Camp TV
by starriieyes
Summary: Eighteen teenagers arrive on an island, where they will be spending eight weeks at a rundown summer camp competing against each other for a shot at the one hundred thousand dollar prize. Who will go behind their fellow campers backs? Who will fall in love? But most importantly, who will win? Find out here, on Camp TV!
1. Not So Happy Campers Pt 1

The island was entirely silent, aside from the chitter of birds and occasional snap of a twig under the foot of a wild animal. It was completely devoid of human influence... if you forgot about the cameras on almost every tree, ready to record it's future residents every moves, the cabins that, despite being newly built, looked ready to fall apart, the dining hall, with it's filthy kitchen and cold interior, and the dock, where a man stood, his eyes small and beady, his hair a jet black, his skin ever so slightly tanned, and a 5 o'clock shadow decorating his face.

There was a wide grin on his face, and he spoke directly to the camera focusing in on him.

"Yo! We're coming at you live from Camp Wawanakwa, somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario!" He walked down the dock as he spoke, eventually coming to a stop near a large sign that said 'Camp Wawanakwa.' "I'm your host, Chris McLean, dropping season one of the hottest new reality show on television right now! Here's the deal." The man gestured out to the lake behind the camera, causing it to turn around. There, in the distance, was an old, rusted boat, heading straight for Camp Wawanakwa.

"Eighteen campers have signed up to spend a night at a summer camp of their choosing, courtesy of Summer Fun Inc. What they don't know, however, is that they have actually signed up to stay here, at Camp Wawanakwa, for the whole summer!" The camera swung back around to face Chris, as he tried to stop himself from laughing at the camper's misfortune. "They'll compete in challenges against each other, then have to face the judgement of their fellow campers.

"Every three days, one team will either win a reward, or watch one of their members walk down the dock of shame, take a ride on the loser boat-" his façade cracked, if only for a moment, as he laughed a little bit, "and leave Camp TV for good." By now Chris had walked off the dock and towards a campfire nearby, where there were around ten stumps facing the lake, an empty oil drum in front of them, a blanket of trees behind.

"Their fate will be decided here, at the dramatic campfire ceremony where all campers but one will receive a marshmallow. In the end, only one will be left standing, and will be rewarded with cheesy tabloid fame, and a small fortune which, lets face it, they'll probably blow in a week." Chris began walking off again, the cameraman following him closely behind.

"To survive, they'll have to battle black flies, grizzly bears, disgusting food..." as he said this, he walked past the dining hall, just as a large black man wearing a filthy, greasy apron walked out, handing him a bowl of live grubs. Chris visibly grimaced, but tried his best to turn it into a smile out of fear that the other man would beat him up otherwise.

"And each other." Chris threw out the grubs as soon as he was sure he was out of the other man's eyesight. "Every moment will be caught on one of the hundreds of cameras situated around the camp." He finally made his way back to the dock, where the boat from before had almost made it to the docks. "Who will crumble under pressure? Find out right now, on Camp TV!"

•・・・•・・・•

After a brief cut, where Chris' makeup had been touched up ever so slightly, the show continued, as the rusted boat finally reached it's destination. "Welcome back to Camp TV! Alright, it's time to meet our first nine campers. We told them they'd be staying at a five star resort-" he snickered, "so if they seem a little T.O-ed, that's probably why."

A short, brown-haired girl, with a pair of thick-rimmed rectangular glasses resting on her nose, and a toothy grin plastered on her face. "Beth, what's up?" Chris asked, turning his attention towards the contestants.

The grin on Beth's face somehow managed to grow even bigger as she realised that this was, in fact, happening, and not a dream. "It's wonderful to meet you!" She exclaimed, her excitement clear in her voice. After staring at the host for a bit, her grin shrunk a little. "Wow, you're much shorter in real life."

"Uh... thanks." Chris said. As Beth walked away, another contestant stepped off the boat. He had a red baseball cap facing backwards, covering the hair on his head. He was six foot at least, slightly overweight, and had dark brown skin, hidden beneath two layers of jackets. There was a kind smile on his face. "DJ, my man!" Chris yelled out at the contestant, holding his hand up for a high five.

DJ smiled, walking over and high fiving him. "How's it going, Chris?" DJ took a quick look at the camp in front of him, his smile dropping a little. "Hey, you sure you've got the right place?"

Chris chuckled. "Yo, dog, this is it! Camp Wawanakwa!" He ushered DJ along as he muttered something under his breath about how it looked a lot different on the application form, and another contestant stepped off the boat, a scowl on her face. Her dark red hair was cut short just above her shoulders, her green eyes giving off no emotion as she walked down the dock. "Hey Gwen!"

Gwen shot Chris a glare before continuing on her way, standing a fair distance away from Beth and DJ, who were having a friendly conversation about their favourite animals. The next contestant flipped his way off the boat, landing perfectly on the dock with his bags, his cowboy hat managing to stay on his head. He had blonde hair and a pink button up shirt that had been left open, showing off his body. "Chris McLean! 'Sup, man? It's an honour to meet you man!" He chuckled, smiling.

Chris shot a pair of finger guns at the contestant, "Geoffster! Welcome to the island, man." They shared a high five, before Geoff walked over to the other three and stood next to Gwen, seeing as she was alone and he wanted to keep her company. The next contestant walked off the boat, a tall, thin girl with long blonde hair held back with a blue bandanna covered in white spots. "Everyone! This is Lindsay!" Chris said, gesturing towards the girl.

Lindsay gave everyone a sweet smile, although it appeared ever so slightly strained. "Hi everyone!" She waved as she made her way down the docks to the others. Another contestant hopped off the boat soon after. She had short black hair tied up into two pigtails and was slightly chubby, with a more genuine smile on her face and deep black eyes.

"Heather! Welcome." Chris said. The girl gave a shy wave, before rushing over to stand next to Lindsay. Lindsay seemed to look ever so slightly disgusted for a few seconds, before smiling just as she had before. They talked briefly, before another contestant tossed his bags into the dock and got off the boat. He had a bright green Mohawk and teal eyes, with multiple facial piercings and a goatee. "Duncan! Dude!" Chris said, a cheeky grin on his face.

"I don't like..." Duncan raised a fist, anger evident on his face, "...surprises." He walked over to Chris, as if threatening him, but Chris just chuckled and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, your parole officer warned me about that, man." His grin turned into a smirk. "He also told me to give him a holler any time and he'd have you returned to juvie." Duncan rolled his eyes and walked down the dock after picking his bag back up. He flirted with Lindsay and Gwen, but realised very quickly that neither were interested.

A scream of excitement could be heard as another contestant, with brown hair and ape-like facial features, flew through the air with his bags, a pair of skis still attached to his feet, right into the pile of luggage that everyone had formed at the dock. A few of the other contestants seemed to cringe in either second-hand embarrassment or pain. One of the bags flew into the water, causing Lindsay to get drenched, from head to toe. "Ugh! My shoes!" She screamed, trying to shake the water off of herself.

"Wicked wipeout, man!" Chris yelled, and a fist could be seen being held up in victory from amongst the pile, before it gave a thumbs up. This seemed to relieve a few of the contestants. Lindsay began to walk off to the island to find a place to dry, but Chris stopped her, whilst also trying to contain his laughter.

A sigh could be heard from behind him, and so Chris turned around. Standing there, was a tall and lanky contestant, with red hair and thick glasses similar to Beth's. He carried a keyboard under his arm and looked around a bit, not saying anything. "Welcome to camp, Harold."

After a few awkward moments of silence, Beth spoke. "What's he looking at?" She asked no one in particular. Harold turned his attention back at Chris.

"So you mean this is all at some crappy summer camp, and not at a big stage, or something?" He asked.

"You've got it!" Chris pointed his finger guns towards the tall teen.

"Yes!" Harold pumped up a fist in victory, before walking down the dock. "That is so much more favourable to my skills!" Chris gave him a confused look, before turning back to the boat.

"Contestant number nine is Trent!" He said, motioning towards a guy with black hair and light green eyes walking down the dock. He gave the host a warm smile, as he walked down the dock with his luggage in his hands.

"Hey, it's good to meet you man! I saw you on that figure skating show, you were pretty cool!" Trent said. He turned his attention towards the other contestants and gave them all a wave, "Hey! How's it going, everyone?" All the contestants just gave him a blank stare, aside from Duncan, who seemed to find something about Trent ever so slightly amusing.

When he realised he wasn't going to get even a wave back, Trent walked down the docks and decided to stand next to Duncan after adding his luggage to the pile, seeing as he had been the only one to have some sort of human response to his greeting.

Another contestant made their way down the docks. She had blonde hair in braids held back by a headband and wore a blue jumper, with ripped denim shorts. She held her luggage in one hand and a longboard in the other. "Hey, what's up?" She said, stopping next to Chris.

"Alright, our surfer chick! Bridgette!" Duncan scoffed and a few people turned to look at him.

"Nice board. This isn't Malibu." He said, sarcasm dripping from his every word. Bridgette shrugged, still holding onto her board.

"I thought we were going to be on a beach." She said, before walking over and resting her luggage on the pile. There were beaches on the island, however, they were all absolutely filthy, and most certainly not good surfing territory.

The eleventh contestant walked down the docks, carrying his luggage along behind him. He wore preppy attire, mainly in reds and blues, and had slightly tanned skin and dark brown hair. He wore a pair of glasses that looked as if they had seen better days, and had a frown on his face. "Next camper is; Noah!" Chris said, the cheery tone in his voice made that much more prominent, most likely to annoy the teen.

"You got my memo about my life threatening allergies?" He asked, his voice monotone, but his annoyance still managing to come through. Chris chuckled and shrugged. Noah looked as if he was about to let out another remark, but decided against it as he walked down the docks and stood as far away as he could from the others, crossing his arms.

Another camper made their way to the docks. She had black hair tied back into a ponytail, with dark skin and deep, black eyes. "'Sup y'all? LeShawna's in the house!" She yelled, strutting down the dock as if it were a catwalk, a smug smile on her face. She threw her luggage onto the pile and made her way over to what appeared to be Lindsay's makeshift group, including Lindsay, Heather, and Tyler.

"I've never seen a girl like your in real life before..." Tyler mumbled, a distant look on his face as he vaguely stared in LeShawna's direction.

"What's that s'posed to mean?" LeShawna asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's just... you're really big. And loud." He replied, as if he were stating the obvious. When he noticed LeShawna's mad face, he raised his arms up as if to surrender and backed up a little. "Have a cow. What's the big deal?" This did not seem to make LeShawna any less cross.

"Excuse me? What did you just say to me?" She rolled up the non-existent sleeves on her top as she got ready to beat him up. "You haven't seen anything yet! I'll show you big, baby!" After that, LeShawna pounced on him and began beating him up. Lindsay tried to pry the two apart, yet to no avail.

Chris ignored the fight and instead turned his attention to two girls who had just gotten off the boat. "Ladies! Sadie," he gestured to the girl on the right, with denim shorts and red hair that flicked up at the ends, with a giant grin on her face, "Katie," he then gestured to the girl on the left, with long brown pants and brown hair in a short bob, her grin matching Sadie's, "Welcome to your new home for eight weeks!" Chris then spun around and pointed at the cabins behind him.

"Oh my gosh, Sadie, look!" Katie pointed at the cabins in excitement. "It's a summer camp!"

Sadie latched herself onto Katie's arm and hopped from foot to foot lightly, clearly just as excited as her friend. "I've always wanted to go to summer camp!" She lets out a little squeal, and then the two girls giggle, as if they had just shared an inside joke. They grab their bags and run down the dock, chatting excitedly about what they thought it would be like.

Chris scratched at the back of his neck in confusion, then turns his head to see another camper waiting at the docks. He had brown hair combed back neatly, and wore prep attire similar to Noah's, except mainly in greens. He looked around with a look of intrigue on his face, as if he'd never seen the outside world before. "Ezekiel! What's up, man?" Chris raised his hand, expecting a high five.

Instead, Ezekiel looked up at the sky and pointed, a small smile appearing on his face. "I think I see a bird!" He said, the excited tone in his voice matching that of a five-year-old finally counting to twenty in order for the first time. A few of the other contestants chuckled at his obliviousness.

Chris rested a hand on Ezekiel's shoulder and looked him in the eyes, his expression a mix of sympathy and slight annoyance. "Look dude, I know you don't get out much, been homeschooled your whole life," Ezekiel nodded, his smile becoming slightly bigger, "raised by freaky prairie people, just don't say too much and try not to get kicked off too early." He patted Ezekiel on the back as he gave him a nod, before walking down the dock.

The next contestant to get off the boat had teal eyes and short brown hair, the majority of it hidden underneath an orange beanie. He had a necklace with a crescent moon on it, and seemed confused as to whether to dress as a hipster, jock, or nerd. "Cody! The Codester! The Codemeister!" Chris said, shooting finger guns towards Cody the whole time.

Cody shifted his weight from foot to foot, an uncomfortable smile on his face. "I'd rather not be called that? Like, the last two things. It brings back memories of eighth grade." A nervous chuckle seemed to happen on almost every word he spoke, although he tried to cover it up by clearing his throat at the end. His smile became more of a genuine one as he walked down the dock, eyeing the other contestants. After seeing Noah, he sped up a little, standing next to him and chatting a little after dropping off his bags.

"Woohoo! Chris! What's happenin'?" A large, blonde boy who's hair was cut just as it reached his shoulders yelled into Chris' ear, causing him to turn around in shock. He wore a shirt that said 'Keg Me' in teal lettering, and finished his sentence with a hearty chuckle. "This is awesome! Woohoo!" He raised a fist into the air, lifting his left foot into the air in the process.

"Owen! Welcome!" Chris shouted back, attempting to match the teen's enthusiasm. Owen reached down and gave Chris a hug, holding him so tight that an audible crunch sound could be heard.

"Awesome to be here man! Yeah!" Chris' face was contorted into one of pain as Owen continued to hold him in a bear hug. "So..."

"Awesome?" Gwen finally spoke, her sarcastic tone shining through, with her arms crossed across her torso.

"Yeah! Awesome!" Owen yelled once more, before letting Chris go and rushing down the dock, letting out another loud cheer as he did so.

Chris brushed himself off, before looking at the contestants, all lined up on the other end of the docks. "Firth things first: we need a group photo for the promos. Everyone, come to this end of the docks!" He said, climbing onto the boat and searching around for his camera, as the campers made their way down the wooden docks.

After finding it, Chris turned around and everyone posed for their photo to be taken. "Okay! One, two, three!" He said. However, when he pressed the button to take the photo, there was no flash. "Oops!" He chuckled a little. "Okay, forgot the lens cap!" He said, pointing at the camera. Chris pressed a different button, and then went back to taking the photo. "Okay, hold that pose! One. Two- ugh." Chris drew his face back from the camera yet again, looking at it with slight disgust. "Card's full."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Would you please just hurry up? My cheeks are starting to ache, and I think this is the longest I've ever had to smile in my entire life." He said, a snarl almost working it's way onto his face.

"Got it!" Chris said, a grin replacing his old grimace. "Okay, everyone say, 'Wawanakwa'!"

The campers all began to yell out, "Wawanakwa!" just as the dock beneath them gave way. Everyone fell into the water below, and began to hurriedly swim towards the show, causing Chris to chuckle as he took pictures of the struggling campers. He then walked off the boat onto what remained of the docks, and headed to the island.

•・・・•・・・•

Chris met up with all the campers once more at the campfire pit after the had managed to dry off. Cody took a seat next to Noah, who attempted to ignore his presence. "Hey, dude, you okay? You seem kinda out of it." He asked, about to place a hand on the other boy's back, but deciding against it at the last second. It's not like they were friends; they had only known each other for perhaps a minute, maximum.

Noah just scoffed and shrugged him off, although he did seem less cold towards Cody than he had been beforehand. "This is Camp Wawanakwa, your home for the next eight weeks!" Chris yelled out towards the campers, causing both Noah and Cody to pay attention to the host in front of them. "The campers sitting around you will be your cabin mates, your competition, and maybe even your friends, ya dig?"

A few campers glanced at one another as Chris finished his sentence, some more appreciative of the friendly glances than others. Duncan gave Harold, who had been looking in his general direction, a glare, and Harold quickly got the message.

"The camper who manages to stay on Camp TV the longest without getting voted off will win $100,000!" Chris said, raising his arms up, as if presenting the money to all the campers already. Cody, who had been off drying his beanie when Chris had explained what was going off to the rest of the campers, had a confused look on his face, which Noah had seemed to notice.

"Considering you're here, I'm guessing you signed up for some special summer camp that seemed to be tailored to your every need?" Cody nodded. "Yeah, well, turns out, that was just a cover-up for Chris here to send a bunch of us teens onto some reality tv show."

"Damn. Isn't that illegal or something?" Cody asked, causing Noah to chuckle, covering his mouth as he did so.

"It would be if it weren't for the fine print. And, before you ask, we can't sue him on the grounds of false advertising, since we all came here expecting a summer camp, and that's pretty much exactly what we got." Noah smirked, and Cody sighed, holding his head up with his arm.

Duncan stepped forward, a hand on his hip, and a smug smile on his face. "What would the sleeping arrangements be? Because I'd like to request a bunk under her." He pointed towards Lindsay, who tried to hold back a look of disgust forming on her face.

"Please tell me they aren't co-ed." She said, clearly disturbed. Chris chuckled in response.

"Of course they aren't. Girls get one side of each cabin, and dudes get the other." Lindsay let out a sigh of relief. Then, her face brightened up as she thought of something else.

"Um, Chris, could I have a cabin with the lake view, since I'm the prettiest?" She batted her eyelashes and tried to put on her sweetest smile to try and get Chris to do what she wanted.

"Okay you are. But that's not really how things work around here." Lindsay huffed and kicked at the dirt, pouting at Chris' response. Katie and Sadie looked at each other and held each other's hands, before Katie spoke up.

"Sadie and I have to live together, or I'll... I'll die!" Katie said, playing up the dramatics by putting her free hand over her heart.

"And I'll break out in hives!" Sadie said, picking at the a stray piece of bark on the log she was sitting on. "It's true!"

"This cannot be happening." Gwen muttered, her head resting on her hand, a bored look on her face. Geoff chuckled at her remark, as he was sitting close enough to here, and Gwen got a little smile on her face.

"At least you don't have to sleep next to him." Geoff said, pointing over to Duncan, who currently had a dear in a headlock as he rubbed its head aggressively. Gwen grimaced a bit, before looking back at Geoff as if to say 'good point'.

"Here's the deal." Chris said, after being handed a list from an intern. "We're going to split you guys up into two teams, if I call your name out, go stand over there." The host pointed over to the left of the campfire pit, closest to the cabins. "Gwen, Geoff, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Ezekiel, Noah, Owen, And... Trent!" Everyone who got called out stood up and walked over to the left of the campfire. "From this moment on, you are now officially known as the Screaming Gophers!"

Chris tossed open a green piece of fabric, which Owen caught and then unraveled. On it was a yellow logo with a gopher on it, the same colour as the rest of the flag. "Yeah! Woo!" He called out, doing a little happy dance on the spot.

"The rest of you, over here!" He pointed towards the right side. "Bridgette, DJ, Tyler, LeShawna, Sadie, Katie, Duncan, Harold, and Beth! Move, move, move!" Chris yelled out, and everyone ran as fast as they could just so he would stop yelling. Katie and Sadie gave each other a big hug and squealed, overjoyed they were on the same team.

"You guys will officially be known as..." Chris tossed a red piece of fabric to Harold, who quickly unfurled it. On it was a bass with an angry look on it's face coloured dark green, which was on a green circle similar to the colour of the Screaming Gopher's flag. "...the Killer Bass!"

"It's awesome..." Harold gawked, although he showed no signs of being impressed on his face. "...amazing..."

"Alright campers, you guys will be on camera in all public areas during this competition." Chris said, before the cameras cut to static. The campers watched him run off and quickly followed him to two outhouses, both of which seemed to have been built back before functioning, flushable toilets existed. Chris was then shown by a camera inside the outhouse.

**Confessionals Start**

"You will also be able to share your inner-most thoughts on tape with video diaries, any time you want!" Chris said. "Let the audience at home know what you're really thinking." He winked. "Or! Just get something off your chest."

"Um... okay..." Gwen looked anywhere but the camera, with her arms crossed tight on her torso, and one leg propped over the other. "So far this sucks. Really badly."

"Everyone here seems to be ogling me. Well, all the guys anyway. Excluding that tanned kid. What's his name? Nigel?" Lindsay snickered. "Not like I care anyway. That's just making it that much easier for me down the road."

A duck was seen putting on bright pink lipstick with a name label on its side; Lindsay. The duck seemed as if it was using the confessional camera as a mirror, until it opened it's eyes and stared at it in shock, before rushing out, dropping the lipstick in the process.

"Hey everyone, check this out. I have something very important to say." Owen said, pointing at himself with one hand, propping his other one up on his hip. He got up and let out a fart, before laughing close to the camera.

**Confessionals End**

"Alright! Any questions?" Chris asked, standing with the rest of the campers by the campfire pit yet again. He did not wait for any of the campers to raise their hands, however. "Cool. Let's find your cabins!" He walked off, the eighteen contestants following closely behind. "Gophers, you're in the east cabin," he gestured towards the right, "Bass, you're in the west!"

Everyone dragged their luggage along with them, aside from Lindsay, who, thanks to the combined efforts of Heather and Tyler, didn't have to carry anything. Cody searched through the crowd for Noah, and after finally spotting him, rushed over. "Hey! We're on the same team! That's pretty cool, huh?" Cody asked, a big grin on his face.

Noah rolled his eyes. "I guess." They walked side by side in silence for a little bit, before Noah spoke once again. "Why do you keep wanting to talk to me?"

Cody shrugged. "I dunno. I guess you're just kind of attractive." After he uttered the second half, Cody's face instantly grew red and he put his palm to his forehead repeatedly, hitting himself. "Oh my god, I'm so so sorry! I meant that in a friendly way! As in, like, I find you just a sort of friendly magnet kinda person! Oh god, I swear I didn't mean it like that!" He stopped walking as he continued to try and apologise, flapping his arms all over the place as if that would make him more comprehensible.

Noah chuckled in response, raising one eyebrow as a smirk grew on his face. "I don't know why on earth you'd think I, of all people, could possible be a people person, but I digress. I kinda guessed you didn't mean you found me physically appealing based on the way you were looking at Ms. Boobs-Bigger-Than-Her-Head earlier, anyways." Cody sighed in relief and continued to walk alongside Noah, this time trying to make small talk as to avoid messing up his words again.

•・・・•・・・•

Lindsay stepped into the girl's side of the Gophers cabin and looked around, slightly disgusted. "Bunk beds? Isn't that a little... oh, I don't know... summer camp?"

Gwen pushed past her, rolling her eyes as Lindsay let out an annoyed, high-pitched grunt. "That's the idea, genius." She laid her bags down on one of the bottom bunks, before taking a seat on it.

Lindsay looked like she wanted to say something insulting to the redhead's sarcastic remark, but decided against it. Heather and Tyler walked in, carrying Lindsay's bags and putting them on the top bunk of the blonde's choosing, which was okay for Tyler, not so much for Heather, who did not have the same amount of upper body strength as the jock.

"What's he doing in here?" LeShawna asked, walking in to find Tyler who was not only a guy, but on Lindsay's opposing team. "The guys have been looking everywhere for him."

Lindsay smirked. "He's helping me, of course! I could never have dragged those heavy suitcases of mine to the cabin without his help." Lindsay draped herself over Tyler, who blushed and looked away with a smile on his face. "You got a problem with that?"

LeShawna got a look on her face as if she completely understood what Lindsay was doing, and smiled a sickeningly sweet smile. "No, of course not! You two make a wonderful couple!" Her feigned sweetness dripped from her words like poison, and at that moment Lindsay and LeShawna exchanged looks of pure appreciation and respect. Tyler rushed out of the room with his luggage, whilst Heather put hers underneath Lindsay's bunk and tightened her pigtails.

"Where are the outlets? I have to charge my phone." Noah called out as he exited the boy's side.

"There are some in the communal bathrooms! Just across the way." Chris said, pointing over to a tin room that looked ready to fall apart. Noah let out a disgusted sigh as he walked over to them, charger in one hand, phone in the other, with his back hunched.

"Hey, Chris! Is there a chaperone of any kind in this facility?" Geoff asked, leaning against the railing on the porch of the cabin.

Chris had a shocked and confused look on his face for his moment, either because he hadn't been expecting the question from Geoff, or because he hadn't prepared for it beforehand. "You're all sixteen years old. As old as a counsellor in training in a regular summer camp!" His grin returned quickly. "So, other than myself, you'll be unsupervised!" He shrugged. "You've got a half an hour to unpack and meet me back at the main lodge, starting now!" He walked off.

Suddenly, a loud scream could be heard from the girl's side of the Gophers cabin, capturing the attention of those still nearby outside. LeShawna, Lindsay, Harold, DJ, Tyler, Duncan, and Gwen all peaked through the open doorway. "Oh man that girl can scream!" LeShawna commented.

There, in the back of the room, was Heather, up on the top of one of the bunk beds, shaking in fear of a cockroach running around on the floor. "Kill it! Someone kill it!" She yelled. Gwen ripped one of her sneakers off her feet and ran in, beginning to hit the floor with her shoe to try and kill the cockroach. Eventually, after trying about a dozen times, Gwen managed to squish the pesky roach underneath the sole of her shoe. She recoiled with disgust.

Heather leaped down from her bunk, feeling safer now that the cockroach was dead. She ran over to Gwen and gave her a hug of thanks, leaving Gwen feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Oh my god thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said, before letting Gwen go.

"Please... don't mention it." Gwen replied, shoving her shoe back onto her foot.

•・・・•・・・•

Everyone was lined up in the main lodge as a black man with a chef's apron yelled at them all like an army general as to his rules surrounding his food. "I will serve it three times a day, and you will eat it three times a day! Grab your tray, get your food, and sit your butts down now!" Chef yelled so loudly that he made the lodge vibrate slightly.

"Excuse me, but will we be getting all the major food groups?" Beth asked as Chef poured some sticky red slop onto a stale bun.

Harold and Beth took their trays. "Yeah, 'cause I get hypoglycaemic real bad if I don't have enough sugar." Beth walked off, realising Chef was ready to blow.

"You'll get a whole lot of shut the heck up!" Chef yelled in Harold's face, causing his hair to be blown back. The redhead ran off to join Beth shortly afterwards, and they began to discuss unsolved mysteries.

"Have a cow..." Cody muttered to Noah, causing the tanned boy to snicker, whether it be because of the other's accidental reference to what Tyler had said before getting beaten up earlier that day, or because of the current context, was unclear.

"What was that?" Chef seemed to have heard Cody. The brunette gulped, pulling his beanie slightly over his eyes. "Come closer toothpick, I didn't hear you!" He dished an extra helping of the mysterious red substance onto both Noah and Cody's trays, seeing that they both could have probably been snapped in half by the muscular cook.

"Um, I didn't really say anything important..." Cody answered, sweating nervously, his voice cracking slightly, as he grabbed his tray.

"I'm sure you didn't." Noah and Cody walked off to another table together.

Lindsay and Gwen were the final two to receive their meals. The blonde looked down at her dish sceptically. "Um, my nutritionist says I shouldn't eat anything with white flour, white sugar, or like, dairy." She prodded at the goop with the plastic fork provided.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem." Gwen replied, looking down at her meal with a snarl plastered across her features. The red slop twitched on it's own, and the loner jumped a little in shock.

After Lindsay walked off, she looked up at Chef. "Look, I hate to be predictable and complain on the first day, but I think mine just moved." Chef brought out a wooden mallet and slammed it down onto the mystery meat, splattering it all over himself and Gwen. "Great! Thank you!" She rushed off to join the rest of the Gophers.

•・・・•・・・•

Chris walked into the main lodge, stopping just in front of the doorway. As he looked out at the campers, looks of discomfort and distaste on their faces over their 'meals', he smiled. "Welcome to the main lodge!"

"Yo, my man," Geoff turned to face Chris, "can we order a pizza?" A butcher's knife went flying through the air, barely missing Geoff's face, and hitting the wall next to him, getting stuck in the wood. "Woah! It's cool, g! Red slop is cool!" He laughed nervously as he took a forkful of the myserty meat and tried to swallow it. "Right guys?" He asked. Everyone else nodded out of fear.

"Your first challenge begins in one hour!" Chris said, walking out of the lodge with a grin on his face.

"What do you think they'll make us do?" Beth asked Harold, playing with the food on her tray.

"It's our first challenge, it can't possibly be that bad." He answered, although he didn't seem to sure of himself.

•・・・•・・・•

All the campers had dressed up into their swimming gear and were now standing at the top of the cliff. Some were hugging each other out of fear, whilst others said their prayers. Harold looked over the edge of the cliff to see the waters down below, the sharks looking ready to take a bite out of whichever camper didn't land in the diving circle. "Oh shit."


	2. Not So Happy Campers Pt 2

"Okay, today's challenge is three-fold!" Chris yelled out to the crowd of campers. "Your first task is to jump off this 1000 foot high cliff into the lake."

Bridgette smiled and shrugged. "Piece of cake." She edged closer to the edge of the cliff, looking ready to dive in, until she got next to Harold and realised what awaited her and the others below.

"If you look down you will see two target areas. The wider area represents the part of the lake that we have stocked with psychotic," Chris tried to stifle his laughter, "man-eating sharks!" Bridgette finally backed away from the edge, placing herself behind Trent and Duncan instead. "Inside that area is a safe zone. That is your target, which, we're pretty sure, is shark-free."

"Excuse me?" LeShawna asked, one hand on her hip as she gave the host an incredulous look. Chris ignored her.

"For each member of your team that jumps and actually... survives... there will be a crate of supplies waiting below." He gestured down the hill where there were two seperate stacks of wooden crates. "Inside each crate are supplies you'll need for the second part of the challenge! Building a hot tub! The team with the best one gets to throw a wicked hot tub party tonight!" Geoff's face lit up at the prospects of hosting a party, as well as a few other campers. "The losers will be sending someone home. Killer Bass, you're up first."

Beth looked over the edge of the cliff, where Harold was still gawking at the distance between solid ground and the water below. "Oh... wow... who wants to go first?" Her question was met with silence from both teams. Harold snapped out of his daze and looked ready to jump, when Duncan spoke up.

"Ladies first." The delinquent smiled, contrasting the daring tone in his voice.

Beth gulped and looked back down. "It's okay... they always have interns do this sorta stuff first... yeah..." She whispered to herself. Harold backed away from the cliff edge as she took a deep breath and hurled herself over the edge. She made a weird whisper-scream noise as she fell, only going quiet when she finally hit the water, in the safe zone.

When her head finally bobbed back up out the water, she gave her teammates up above a big thumbs up, before going into the boat that had driven nearby to pick her up. "Sweet, she made it! I'll go next!" Tyler announced, walking away from the cliff to get a running start.

Unlike Beth had before him, he let out a proper scream, one of excitement and thrill. Then he hit his head on the side of one of the buoys in the safe zone. Beth had to dive back in and drag him out, although thankfully he wasn't underwater for long.

After Tyler jumped in, two more campers followed; Duncan and Bridgette. However, when it came to be DJ's turn, he simply backed away from the ledge and shook his head, shaking a little. "Uh-uh, man, no way. I'm not jumping."

"Scared of heights?" Chris asked, a grin on his face.

"Ever since I was a kid." DJ nodded.

"That's okay, big guy." However, the soothing tone in Chris' voice was soon replaced with a more malicious one as he walked over to the large teen. "Unfortunately, that also makes you a _chicken_! So, you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day!" He grabbed yellow, plastic chicken hat from an intern that quickly rushed off, placing it on top of DJ's head, causing it to let out a pathetic 'squawk'.

"Aw man, for real?" DJ grimaced, poking at his new hat. Chris just let out a few chicken noises in response, flapping his arms like wings and cackling a little at his reaction.

"That means the chicken path down is that-a-way!" The host pointed to a escalator heading down the cliff. DJ walked over to it, his back hunched forward and his arms hanging by his side, his demeanour similar to that of a child that had just been put into the time-out corner. "Next?"

Sadie and Katie held each other in a tight grip, determined smiles on their faces. They gave each other glances of confirmation, before nodding, and jumping over the edge together, letting out squeals that sounded like mixes of fear and excitement on their way down. Their teammates let out cheers as the two girls landed in the safe zone, helping them onto the boat.

Harold was next. "Yes!" He yelled out, jumping off. He held his arms out in the air as if to celebrate a premature victory, his legs spread out as he did a horizontal split in mid-air. He maintained that pose for the entire 1000 foot drop, causing his landing to be extremely painful. He let out a monotone yell of pain, as all of the guys, and even some of the sharks, winced. The red-headed teen yelled out once more as he fell under the water. Beth, once again, dove into the water to rescue a teammate.

"Ooh, hate to see that happen!" Chris yelled out in mock sympathy. "Anyway, that would be seven jumpers and one chicken. We're missing someone." He turned around and spotted LeShawna chatting with Lindsay, Heather standing nearby with a dejected look on her face. "You gonna jump or not?"

LeShawna rolled her eyes and walked over, peering over the edge of the cliff and at the water below. A few of the sharks seemed to snap their jaws at her hungrily, licking their fishy lips. "Fine. But only 'cause I don't want my team to lose." She jumped, diving straight into the safe zone, being picked up by her fellow Bass soon after in the old, rusty boat. After they were all dropped off at shore, the boat went back to the safe zone.

Chris peered over the edge, before turning back around to the Gophers, a wide grin on his face. "That would be eight jumpers, and one chicken. A tough score to beat! If you do manage to beat it, however, we'll throw in a wheelbarrow for you guys to put your crates on!"

Trent smiled, all of a sudden more enthusiastic after hearing about the possible bonus. "Nice! So, who wants to jump first?" His enthusiasm was met with silence, as everyone attempted to avoid eye contact with one another, just in case they got picked by one of their teammates.

Heather, realising no one else was going to volunteer, began to raise her hand. Lindsay noticed this extremely quickly, and a smile grew on her face, a sliver of her less-than-good intent shining through. "Fantastic! Thanks for volunteering, Heather!" Before the shorter Asian girl could protest, Lindsay was dragging her to the edge, throwing her off.

Heather let out a scream of fear the whole way down, covering her face with her hands as she inched closer and closer to what she assumed would be her watery demise below. However, when she hit the water's surface and found herself largely unharmed, with only a slight bit of shock from the cold water coming into contact with her skin, she took in a deep breath. Whilst doing so, however, she inhaled a bunch of water, and proceeded to cough it all up. "I'm okay!" She yelled up to the Gophers.

Lindsay huffed, blowing a stray blonde hair out of her face, before leaping in after her. Heather managed to paddle to the boat just in time, as Lindsay landed right where she had been floating moments ago. She tried to give the taller girl a thumbs up and a smile, but was only met with a withering glare.

"I was only sent out here to get some Vitamin D, eh. Not to risk my life." Ezekiel muttered, stepping slowly to the cliff edge. Chris just chuckled in response, before pushing him off, earning a scream of terror from the homeschooled boy. After him came Gwen and Trent, who had, in the short time they had spent on the island, already seemed to spawn a bit of a hatred for one another.

**Confessionals Start**

"I have a bad feeling about that Trent guy. He's just so... normal. Painfully so." Gwen sighed. "Considering everyone here seems to have some sort of quirk, including Heather, even if it's just being an extreme pushover, it's just strange to see some guy without anything special about him whatsoever. I mean, this is reality TV! Everyone on reality TV has some sort of special thing!" She crossed her arms, realising she had begun to tap at the wood walls so hard that her nails were creating indents in them.

"But maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"I don't know why on earth Gwen is acting so weird towards me." Trent said. "I mean, I haven't even really spoken to her! Did I mess something up with my introduction? I don't understand!" He sighed, putting his face in his hands and shaking his head. "It's not like I'm something extreme, like an aspiring pop musician or anything... I'm just... Trent." He looked up at the confession cam. "That's all there is to it."

**Confessionals End**

Geoff let out a loud 'whoop' of excitement as he looked down to the water below, hyping himself up. "This is gonna be great!" He reassured himself, backing away from the ledge so he could take a running jump. However, when he jumped off the edge, he had closed his eyes, rendering him unable to see where he was going. The party boy landed outside of the safe zone, something he failed to notice.

Gwen, however, did notice. "Geoff, look out behind you!" She yelled. The blonde turned around, just in time to see two sharks lunge towards him. Instantaneously, his 'fight or flight' response activated, and he punched one of the sharks across the snout, sending it straight into it's other man-eating companion. Whilst the two predators recovered, Geoff quickly swam over to the boat, hopping on with a helping hand from Gwen.

After climbing onto the boat and checking himself for any lost limbs, Geoff shot the red-haired female a smile. "Thanks, man! Without you, I would've been fish food!" He chuckled at his own lame joke, but Gwen couldn't help but laugh with him. Just something about the way his eyes began to close ever so slightly when he... Gwen shook the thought away quickly.

Back up at the top of the cliff, Cody seemed hesitant to jump. Noah looked over at him, chuckling a little, a hand covering his mouth again as he did so. "The Codester can't possibly be scared, can he?" Noah smirked as he watched the pale geek flinch at the nickname, sending him a glare.

"I thought I said I didn't want to be called that." Cody replied, a smile cracking through as he noticed the joking expression on his... friend's? face. "And I'm not really scared, just... concerned. For obvious reasons."

"Obvious, highly evolved, fishy, man-eating reasons?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Noah furrowed his brow and looked over the edge of the cliff, seeing the sharks were still both recovering. "Well I don't think you'll have to worry about those reasons just yet." He looked back, and noticed the boy was still hesitant. "If it makes you feel better, I could jump first."

Cody smiled, looking Noah in the eye for what was actually the first time since they had hiked up the cliff. His chocolate brown eyes seemed to sparkle with a certain kind of generosity, a kind that said 'I'm only doing this for you so he can win this stupid challenge'. Cody still appreciated it, though. "That'd be nice."

Noah nodded, and looked back down. He took a few step backs, then ran forward, jumping off and into the water below, landing in the centre of the safe zone. Cody did the same soon after, landing next to him.

Then, they were down to their final camper. Owen currently held everything in the balance; if he jumped, he would be able to award his team with the advantage, but if he didn't, both teams would have had one chicken, thus raising the dilemma of who gets the wheelbarrow. Seeing that Owen seemed a little fearful of the drop, Chris gave him a pat on the back. "No pressure, dude." He said.

A little smile made it's way onto Owen's face at those words. "Okay there's lots of pressure!" Chris yelled to the obese teen after he had backed away slightly. Chris whispered something into an intern's ear and they nodded, quickly running off, only to come rushing back a few moments later, carrying two arm floaties that could probably fit around a ten year old's torso.

Or one of Owen's arms.

**Confessionals Start**

"You see," Owen scratched the back of his neck out of nervousness, "I'm not a particularly strong swimmer. So, understandably, I was a tad bit nervous."

"I'm looking at this guy, and he looks to be at least 300 pounds," Duncan snickered, playing around with a knife he had in his pocket by drawing a skull into the confessional wall beside him, "and I'm thinking, oh man, this dude is gonna die."

"I'll admit, I'm pretty sure I was more scared for Owen than I was for myself when it came to jumping off that cliff." Cody grimaced.

**Confessionals End**

"Take a good run at it buddy! You can do this!" Chris called out to Owen as he walked away from the edge. Down on the boat below, the Gophers yelled out words of encouragement, hoping that they'd aid Owen in his jump. With the floaties now safely secured around his arms, Owen did a few stretches, then shook himself out a bit.

"I'm going to die now. I'm going to freaking die now." Owen turned around, looking straight at the cliff edge. Everyone down below watched in silence, waiting for the contestant to make his move. No one dared make a sound, as if one sudden action would cause Owen to spontaneously combust.

After what felt like forever, the large blonde teen finally let out a loud, "Yeah!" As he ran as fast as he could, tossing himself over the side and into the frosty lake water below him. Owen hit the water with so much force, thanks both to gravity and his weight, that he caused a mushroom cloud of sorts to occur, launching everyone on the beach and in the boat into the air, along with the sharks and any other objects in the general area.

For a second, everything seemed to be floating, as if they were high up in space, where nothing could affect them anymore. Not gravity, not the weight of the world's issues which they'd soon have to carry, or even Chris McLean could reach them. Until they all came crashing down, everyone landing on the beach below aside from Owen, who had been in the water the whole time, and seemed to look as thought he hadn't just seen everyone get tossed a mile high into the air.

"Yes! Yeah!" Owen yelled, raising his fists in the air in glee. He spun around a little bit in the water, as if doing a victory dance, whilst all the other campers lay on the beach in shock. One of the sharks clung to a tree it had landed on in fear. "Oh yeah, who's the man!"

After snapping out of their dazes, a few other campers began to cheer as well, mainly members of the Gophers, but some of the Bass as well. "The winners!" Chris called out to the contestants down below, "The Screaming Gophers!"

Trent looked over to Owen with a smile as he hung from side of the (now beached) boat. "That was awesome, dude!" Owen, however, instead of accepting his praise, looked around in the water nervously. "What's wrong?"

"I think I lost my bathing suit..." Owen answered, refusing to look Trent, or anyone else for that matter, in the eye. The campers all made sounds of disgust as Owen dived under the surface of the water, searching for his swimming trunks.

•・・・•・・・•

All the campers had dried off and gotten into their normal clothes, and had now moved onto the second part of the challenge. The Screaming Gophers were moving along nicely, thanks to their wheeled advantages. The campers had split off into pairs, and were now wheeling one box each down the beach, aside from Owen, who was stuck wheeling one by himself. A low rumble was heard coming from his stomach, but he chose to ignore it in favour of getting to the third part of the challenge on time.

Everyone was singing 'One Hundred Bottles of Pop on the Wall' and were down to forty-nine as they attempted to keep themselves distracted from their long journey ahead. "If one of those bottles should happen to fall, forty-eight bottles of pop on the wall!" The team sung out in perfect harmony, as Owen's stomach let out another low rumble.

Meanwhile, the Killer Bass were doing far worse, and had barely made it a quarter of the way down the beach, as they attempted to flip the large boxes down the beach. DJ was in the front, whilst Katie and Sadie were in the back, trying to push their box with their whole bodies pressed up against it.

LeShawna kicked her box along, but accidentally threw her foot at it at the wrong angle, causing it to twist in an uncomfortable way. She cried out in pain as she held it, her partner, Bridgette, stopping as well to check and make sure she was okay. "I think she sprained her ankle! We need a medic!" She called out. Two interns came out of the nearby woods and pulled the large girl onto a stretcher, rushing her off quickly.

Bridgette sighed as she began to push her crate along yet again, this time without anyone else's help.

The Screaming Gophers were now down to thirty-two bottles of pop, and Owen's stomach had begun to become much, much louder. In his hunger-induced state, he began to eye the wheels on his wheelbarrow hungrily, as if they were donuts just waiting to be eaten. He looked behind him, seeing that the other team wasn't anywhere nearby, and then ahead. No one was paying attention as he sat down and ripped a wheel off his wheelbarrow and began to munch away at it.

"How much longer until we get there, do you think?" Cody asked. His legs had begun to turn to jelly, and he took heaving breaths. Noah, his partner, didn't seem to be in a better condition, his red jacket and long pants probably not helping.

"Don't know, don't care, as long as we get there before I drop dead from exhaustion." He panted, glancing at the pale boy beside him. Seeing that he had made him ever so slightly uncomfortable, Noah sighed and said, "But, if you _must_ know, I think we'll manage to make it before we have no more pop on our wall." This caused Cody to laugh a little, earning a little smile from the preppy teen, which he made sure to hide quickly.

The Killer Bass has begun to gain momentum, when Tyler stopped, earning confused looks from his teammates. "I gotta go pee." He said, jogging off into the woods.

"Well, you'll need to hurry up, we're _already _behind." Duncan called out behind the jock, kicking his box along.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Beth asked, earning a glare from the green-haired delinquent. "I-I mean, you saw what happened to LeShawna, right? We can't afford to lose another teammate because they kicked their box the wrong way."

Duncan scoffed and leaned against his box. "Well alright then, Velma, but don't expect me to move this box very far until our star quarterback gets here so I can lift this damned thing."

Beth sighed and turned to Harold, who had been trying to ignore the punk and his stubbornness whilst he pushed his and Beth's crate along. "Do I really look like Velma?" She asked, only earning a shrug from her fellow geek in response.

The Screaming Gophers were down to twenty-eight bottles of pop, when Heather stopped pulling her crate along to point in front of her, earning an annoyed glare from Lindsay. "Look! It's the campgrounds!" She hopped from foot to foot, grabbing at the wheelbarrow yet again and running faster than Lindsay was able to keep up with, causing the blonde to accidentally fall into the wheelbarrow behind her.

"See? Told you we'd make it there before zero." Noah nudged Cody lightly, a smirk on his face, causing the brunette to laugh a little. They walked along, trying to keep themselves from completely collapsing for a long enough period of time that they could reach the campsite.

Ezekiel, however, was not as excited as the rest of his teammates. Instead, he seemed extremely worried, and was looking around as if he had lost something, which did not go unnoticed by Trent. "Dude, are you okay?"

Ezekiel looked up at the taller teen, his brows furrowed together. "Do you know where Owen is?"

"Yeah, he's right behind-" Trent turned around to see that Owen was not, in fact, right behind them. "Oh." The two of them stopped walking, giving each other glances of worry, before rushing off the way they had come, leaving their wheelbarrow behind in search of the tubby teen.

Tyler finally came back to see that only Duncan had stayed behind to wait for him, their crate right where he'd left it. "Where's everyone else?"

"Didn't wanna wait. I didn't either, but I figured four hands were better than two when it comes to pulling a crate wider than you are." They lifted the crate up together, holding it up just above their waists, and walked down the beach straight ahead. In the distance, Tyler spotted something that looked a lot like a beached baby whale.

"What is that?" He asked. Duncan shrugged, and so the two walked a little faster to get closer to the strange object.

There, lying on the sandy ground in front of them, was Owen, wood splinters all over his hands and around his mouth, holding his stomach and letting out wails of pain, as red blood began to leak from his wounds. "We're gonna need another medic." Duncan sighed.

Back at the campsite, the Gophers were attempting to pry their crates open with their teeth, some with more success than others. "Remember, you guys can only use your teeth to open the crates!" Chris reminded the campers as he walked past them all. "I came up with that one." He chuckled.

Cody managed to pry a small part of his crate open, sending a nail flying into Chris' forehead, knocking the host out. He'd have to thank those years of chewing on hard candies after the challenge was over for giving him such a strong jaw. "I think I've got it open!" He called out, and Noah backed away from the crate just in time for Cody to give it one final pull, effectively causing the whole crate to open up.

Inside were a few pipes and a bright red toolbox. Cody let his tongue roll out of his mouth and began picking at the splinters he'd managed to gather on his tongue, wincing every time he pulled out another one.

Tyler and Duncan continued to make their way down the beach, eventually passing Trent and Ezekiel as they ran in the opposite direction, looking around for their large teammate. "Hey, have you guys seen Owen by any chance?" Trent asked the two.

Tyler and Duncan looked at each other, before grinning a little, and turning back around to the other two contestants. "Sorry, man, haven't seen him." Tyler shrugged.

"Yeah, me neither. He might've gone to take a whiz in the woods." Duncan added, before the two turned around and continued to push their crate down the shore.

Trent and Ezekiel exchanged glances, before shrugging. Trent began to run closer to the woods, just in case Tyler and Duncan had been right, whilst Ezekiel continued running down the beach.

The Gophers that had reached the campsite had all managed to open their crates by now. Geoff and Gwen looked through theirs, pulling different things out of it. "We got wood. Lots, and lots of wood." Gwen sighed. After they pulled out all of the wood, the two rested their hands on the edge of the crate, accidentally grazing them against each other as they did so. Gwen felt her cheeks turn a little pink, and looked away.

Heather and Lindsay pulled out a large blue sheet, big enough to drape over the two of them, as well as a heater box, already filled with all the parts needed. Heather looked around, realising they were three contestants short of a full team. "Hey guys, where's the others?" Everyone else began to look around nervously as well, aside from Lindsay, who had begun to file her nails out of boredom.

"Ooh, you guys don't have a full team?" Chris shook his head and tutted the Gophers, weaving between the crates as he did so. "That means you won't be able to start building your hot tub for a full ten minutes after you get your supplies."

"But there's nothing that says we can't start without everyone here!" Lindsay said, putting away her nail file.

"There is now!" Chris grinned and walked away before he could get knocked out yet again, as Lindsay hurled her nail file at him in frustration.

The Killer Bass finally managed to reach camp, sighing as they were all able to relax. "Hey, aren't you guys missing a couple of white boys?" LeShawna asked, noting the lack of three teens on the opposing team.

"Your team is missing a couple of people too, man." Geoff pointed out, only to hear a loud cough from behind.

"Not anymore they're not." The blonde party boy turned around and saw Tyler and Duncan, carrying their team's final crate in their arms, triumphant looks on their faces. They walked over to the rest of their team, being cheered on the whole way, and began to pry open their crate with their teeth just like the rest of their team.

Gwen sighed, putting her hands to her face in shame. "We are so screwed." She muttered. An arm wrapped itself around her shoulders and she looked up, to see Geoff giving her a kind smile.

"It's okay, dudette." He said, giving her a little pat on the shoulder. "At least, if we lose, we'll lose together." Gwen felt a blush work it's way onto her cheeks as she turned away and smiled.

•・・・•・・・•

Cody had managed to round up what remained of the Screaming Gophers, and now stood in front of them all, hands on his hips as he addressed his team on the cabin steps. "Okay team! I know we are down three men right now, but that shouldn't be an issue! We can still do this! We were here first, and we managed to open our crates first, which means we are still in the game! Who's with me!" He cheered, hoping his team would feel pumped up by his speech.

Geoff let out a loud cheer of excitement, although he seemed to do that almost all the time, then causing Gwen to feel a little more excited to. Although it hadn't been what Cody hoped for, he decided it was good enough, as he hopped off the steps and walked back over to Noah, who had spotted something in the distance.

"Is that-?" He began, pointing at the figures in the distance with a shocked look on his face. Cody turned to see where Noah was pointing, and his mouth hung open, his surprise matching that of his teammate.

Off in the distance, making their way up the beach, was Trent and Ezekiel, with more than just their crate in their wheelbarrow. Resting on top of it all was a very bloated Owen, carrying the hot tub parts from his crate in his hands, holding them high up in the air, ignoring the blood dripping down his arms. "We're here! Woohoo!" He yelled out, the excitement evident on his face.

"_Oh my god._" Cody breathed, shaking his hands a little in excitement. "They're here! Everyone, they're here!" He ran off to the other Gophers, who all cheered out in excitement at the arrival of the final three contestants. The Bass, however, weren't as happy about the news.

"We just lost our advantage! Everyone, work faster!" Duncan called out. The Bass had already started working on their hot tub about a quarter of an hour beforehand, and so the Gophers could get to work right away. Owen, however, was beginning to have more stomach troubles. All the wood was beginning to get to him, and his stomach let out a low rumble; this time, not out of hunger, but out of pain.

Trent stared at the instructions with a confused look on his face as he tried to piece together the heater. "I'm... pretty certain these are in another language." He said, looking at the unfamiliar letters and weirdly conjoined words. Ezekiel looked over his shoulder and grinned.

"Oh! I know German, eh!" He said, gently taking the blueprints from Trent's hands. He laid them out flat on the ground and read them over once, then repeated them out loud in English, slowly, so Trent could put the heater together. They were almost done, when the black-haired man noticed something. They were missing a piece.

"Hey, Owen?" Trent called. The large blonde boy looked over, his head tilted to the side as if to ask him what the matter was. "You were the one that brought back the majority of the piping, right?"

"Yeah, why? What's the matter?" Owen asked, his stomach rumbling loudly yet again.

"We're missing a piece, about five centimetres long, slightly curved?" The teen asked. Ezekiel was rummaging through everyone else's things, worried they had lost the piece.

"Oh! It looked like macaroni, right?" He chuckled. "Yeah, sorry dude... I got pretty hungry, and I..."

Trent's eyes widened. "You... aren't implying what I think you're implying, right?" Owen rubbed the back of his neck nervously, as Trent groaned. "Owen! You aren't supposed to eat metal!"

Chris walked over to the little group, having heard Trent's little outburst. "What's going on over here?"

"Owen ate a piece we needed to build the hot tub. You wouldn't happen to have a spare somewhere?" Chris chuckled at Trent, and his chuckles soon turned into full-blown laughter, causing other campers to stare in confusion.

After recovering from his outburst, Chris answered Trent's question. "Unfortunately I don't, dude. So it looks like you're just going to have to hope that somehow, the Bass' tub is worse than yours." The host stole a quick glance over to the other team and their hot tub. "Although I highly doubt it will be."

Trent sighed, looking down at his handiwork. Ezekiel came back over and gave him a pat on the back in an attempt to make him feel better. "We are so losing this challenge."

•・・・•・・・•

Both teams had managed to finish building the outer layer of their hot tubs, although only one was able to build the inner workings of it properly. Chris walked over to the Screaming Gophers' first, and tapped the outside to make sure it was soundly built. He then dipped his hand into the water, drawing it out quickly. "Oh crap, that's cold! I instructed you guys to build a hot tub, not an ice box!" He yelled, before quickly walking over to the other team.

Once again, he tapped the outside of the Killer Bass' tub, finding it had been built just as sturdy as it's competiton. The host dipped his hand into the water once again, and immediately began to melt. It was at the perfect temperature, causing Chris to grin happily. "This is an awesome hot tub!" He yelled out, earning a loud 'whoop' from the Bass.

"Well, I think we have a winner here!" Chris said as he walked back to the middle of the campgrounds. "The Killer Bass! Bass, you are all safe from elimination, and get to rock this hot tub for the rest of the summer!" The Bass all cheered in excitement, and rushed off to their cabin to put on their swimsuits for the second time that day.

However, the Gophers were less than excited. "Screaming Gophers, what can I say, sucks to be you right now." Chris said, although his voice gave away his inner excitement. "I'll see your sorry butts at the bonfire tonight." The host shot them his signature grin, coupled with a pair of finger guns, and walked off to his own lodge.

"We won!" Beth yelled in excitement, throwing her arms in the air as she walked out of the Bass cabin. "We all get to stay here for another three days!" She jumped out of the way as all the Bass ran out of their assigned cabin, rushing straight for the hot tub as they all cheered.

•・・・•・・・•

The sun was beginning to set, the sky glowing orange as it touched the horizon. Birds were flying back to their nests to feed their chicks, and small woodland creatures were beginning to head back to their burrows to rest. Trent and Ezekiel were walking to the main lodge for dinner early, since they didn't have much else to do. Their team had lost the challenge, and both boys, who had collaborated on the heater together, felt as if it was their fault.

"I can't believe we lost the challenge." Trent sighed, his arms swinging slowly by his side as he shuffled across the ground.

"Yeah," Ezekiel said, his hands stuffed in the pockets in his pants, "I mean, their team is the one with five girls, eh?" Trent stopped walking, looking up at Ezekiel as if he had suddenly grown a second head. After realising his companion had stopped, Ezekiel turned around. "Why'd you stop walking, eh?"

"I'm just confused by what you mean," Trent said, crossing his arms, "Why does it matter if their team has more girls?"

"Well, girls are the weaker sex, eh? That's what my dad always told me." Ezekiel furrowed his brows, now just as confused as Trent. Maybe that's what Chris meant about not talking too much? He thought.

Trent sighed and walked over to Ezekiel, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Zeke, buddy. You can't go saying that sorta stuff around here," He began, pinching at the bridge of his nose as if he was trying to find what words to say, "What your dad told you- it wasn't right. I mean, did you see some of the guys on our team? I doubt they could list as much as, uh, say, LeShawna, for example.

"Saying that sorta stuff will get you in trouble. I mean, more trouble than we're already in. Right now, it's either you or me going home, and you are certainly more useful to the team than me." Ezekiel nodded, as if he was finally understanding what Trent was saying. "If the team hears you saying sexist comments like that, though, they probably won't be as kind towards you as I was."

The two boys entered the main lodge, where Chef had just finished cooking their dinner; white sludge. They walked up to the kitchen and grabbed their trays, going to sit down at one of the tables. "Thanks, Trent. I'll try not to let anything slip, eh." He smiled at his new friend, and got a thumbs up in return.

The rest of the campers all piled into the main lodge and grabbed their food, before sitting down at their respective tables. Chef grumbled about how 'those darn kids are getting water everywhere' since the Bass hadn't had an opportunity to dry themselves off properly before they had been called for dinner, and were leaving a trail of water wherever they walked.

Noah sighed, letting go of his spoon, causing it to spring back in forth as it stuck in his sludge. "We should figure out who we vote off so we don't end up with one vote for everyone in this stupid team." He said, attracting the attention of his teammates. "Anyone have any suggestions?"

"I think it should be either Trent or Ezekiel," Lindsay called out, playing with what remained in her bowl, "They were meant to build the heater, but stuffed it up, so like, if anything one of them should take the boot."

Heather looked like she was going to say something to object, but stopped when she saw Lindsay glaring at her, and just nodded in agreement. Trent and Ezekiel sighed, the latter sinking down in his seat out of fear, as if he thought someone might have heard his and Trent's conversation from before.

Owen still felt guilt form before, however, and decided to stand up for the two boys. "But they totally would've been able to build it if it weren't for me!" He yelled out, this time causing everyone in the lodge to look at him. "I, uh... lost one of the pieces that they needed for the heater to work. If it weren't for me, we totally would have won this challenge!" His teammates began to whisper to one another, no doubt trying to figure out if he was lying or not.

Trent gave the blonde teen a pat on the back. "Hey, dude, you didn't have to do that for us." He smiled. Owen didn't need any cheering up, though, and just pointed at the shorter teen's bowl.

"Are you gonna eat the rest of that?" Owen asked. Trent shook his head. "Thanks, man!" He began to gobble down the sludge as if he hadn't eaten in months, causing his teammate to laugh.

•・・・•・・・•

The Screaming Gophers had all gathered at the bonfire pit. The wood in the oil drum had been lit on fire, casting what would have otherwise been the pitch black entertainment area in a harsh red glow, illuminating the faces of the contestants and the host. "Screaming Gophers. At camp, marshmallows represent a tasty treat that you enjoy roasting by the fire." In his right hand, Chris held a platter covered in eight squishy, fluffy, sugary treats.

"At this camp, marshmallows represent life." Chris attempted to make what he said as dramatic as possible, yet it only earned mocking from Geoff, who pretended to tie an imaginary noose around his neck, earning a giggle from Gwen. "You've all cast your votes and made your decision. There are only eight marshmallows on this plate. When I call your name, come up and claim your marshmallow.

"The camper that does not receive a marshmallow tonight must immediately return to the Dock of Shame to catch the Boat of Losers." Chris gestured over to the now fixed dock that they had all arrived on earlier that day. "You're out of the contest. And you can't come back. _Ever._ The first marshmallow goes to..." Chris held the symbol of immunity in the air next to his head. "Geoff." The party boy grabbed a nearby stick before rushing up and claiming his treat.

"Cody." The geek stumbled over his feet a little, before walking up to the front and grabbing his marshmallow, devouring it immediately.

"Lindsay." The blonde flicked her hair back over her shoulder, before standing up and claiming her prize.

"Noah." The prep smirked as he went up front, grabbing his marshmallow and toasting it against Cody's half-eaten one.

"Heather." The chubby girl got up at shuffled up to Chris, giving him a small 'thank you' as she took her marshmallow.

"Gwen." The redhead took her treat and went to stand next to Geoff, who was shooting her a smile and a thumbs up whilst he roasted his marshmallow over the fire.

"Trent." The black-haired boy gave both of his two new friends smiles of sympathy as he walked up the front to claim his immunity.

There was one marshmallow left on the platter. Ezekiel and Owen had their eyes focused on the sugary treat, both just as wanting of their second chance as the other. "Campers," the boys turned their attention to Chris, who had a stern look on his face, "This is the final marshmallow of the evening." His statement was followed by a tense silence.

Owen bit his lip so hard that he thought it might bleed, rubbing his two now bandaged hands together as if there was sweat pooling on his palms. Ezekiel was shaking, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he got ready to either take off to get his marshmallow, or run down the docks, his pupils dilated in fear. The two boys glances at each other in fear for a few seconds, before looking back at the lone marshmallow.

Chris raised his hand in the air, pointing at the sky, the sudden movement causing both campers to gasp in shock. The host then pointed down, swinging his arm back and forth between the two contestants, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats as Chris finally stopped on one of the two boys. "Ezekiel."

Thr brunette let out a breath he didn't even realise he was holding, standing up. However, before he ran up to claim his prize, he looked back at Owen, who now had his back hunched over as he realised he was the one getting booted off. After claiming his marshmallow, Ezekiel walked back over to Owen and split it in half, giving the tubby teen some of his treat. "Sorry, eh. You were a pretty sweet guy."

Owen smiled up at the homeschooled boy, accepting his apology. "It's okay. I said what I had to say so you wouldn't be sent home unfairly." The blonde chuckled, walking over to the docks as he munched on the half marshmallow he had been given. An intern stepped off the boat after piling the teen's luggage on, sending the boy a smile filled with pity. The other Bass followed behind him, Trent and Ezekiel leading the pack.

Before he stepped onto the boat, however, Owen turned back around and grabbed the two shorter boys, holding them tight in a bear hug. "I'm gonna miss you guys!" He said, having felt as if the day he had spent with them had been more like a year after everything that had happened.

"We'll miss you too, big guy." Trent said, as he and Ezekiel tried to wrap their arms around the boy to return the hug. After a minute, Owen dropped the two of them, and walked onto the boat, waving everyone goodbye.

After the Bass made their way back to the bonfire, Chris cleared his throat so he could make his announcement. "The rest of you, go get some shut-eye. You're going to need your rest for the next challenge!" He chuckled, causing the remaining campers to give each other worried looks. "You're all safe. For now."

**Confessionals Start**

Gwen stood on top of the seat in the confessional, looking out the window at the top. "Yep. This camp pretty much still sucks." She sighed, although there was a bit of a lovestruck note to it. "But at least I'm not alone in believing that. Might as well try to win, since I'm here and all."

**Confessionals End**

Bridgette raised a juice box she had managed to sneak from Chef's kitchen in toast as she rested with the rest of her team in the hot tub once again. "To the Killer Bass!" She cheered, causing the rest of her team to pump their fists into the air and copy her cheer.

As everyone celebrated their first official victory, Chef came out of the main lodge, an angry look on his face. "I know one of you maggots snuck into my kitchen! Who took the juice boxes?" He yelled, causing Bridgette to sink underneath the surface of the hot tub out of fear.

As Tyler laughed with the rest of his team, he spotted Lindsay making her way back to her cabin with the rest of her team. He hopped out of the hot tub, almost tripping over the edge of it in the process, and ran over to her. "Lindsay! Hey, Lindsay!" He called, attempting to get her attention.

The blonde let out a huff of annoyance, but soon replaced her scowl with a smile and she realised it was only Tyler. "What is it, Tyler?" She asked.

"Would you... uh... like to join my team in the hot tub?" He asked, a stupid and hopeful grin on his face.

The pampered princess caught on to how head-over-heels he was for her almost instantly, and her smile only grew as she realised she could use it to her advantage. "Of course I would! Let me go get my bathers on first, okay?"

"Uh... yeah! Yeah, okay!" Tyler said, as Lindsay began to walk away, her smile turning from sweet to sinister.


	3. The Big Sleep

The sun was only just beginning to rise on the campers fourth day at Camp Wawanakwa, with birds beginning to chirp as they woke up, and the sound of someone's light footsteps as they walked across grass, still wet with morning dew.

Chris walked down to the campgrounds, a cheery grin on his face as he held a megaphone in front of himself. Once he reached the middle between the east and west cabins, he pulled an air horn out of his pocket and positioned it right in front of the megaphone, pressing down and releasing an irritatingly loud noise out across the island.

LeShawna instantly woke up, sitting up straight and hitting her head on the bunk above her. "Ow!" She yelled, waking up her cabin-mates in the process. "It's seven in the morning!" She opened the window on the side of her cabin and looked out, to see Chris standing there, waving innocently. "Do I look like a farmer to you?" She growled.

"I'm going to need everyone up and at 'em in the next ten minutes!" Chris said into his megaphone, ignoring LeShawna as she mumbled something about the host and how much she already hated him.

Noah groaned and rolled over in his bunk, facing the wall next to him instead of getting up in an attempt to go back to sleep. Cody had other ideas, as he hung his head over the edge of his bed to see how Noah was doing. He poked the Indian-Canadian teen in the back, almost falling off his bunk in the process, causing Noah to let out a grunt of frustration and roll back over.

"What do you want?" He asked, shuffling further under the thin covers in an attempt to ward off the morning chill.

"For you to get up so you don't get in trouble." Cody tilted his head, the tone in his voice making it seem as though he thought the answer was an obvious one.

Noah sighed. "And why do you care?"

"Because you're my friend, duh." The pale boy finally slipped off the edge of his bed, letting out an 'oof' as his back hit the hard wooden flooring below. Noah shuffled closer to the edge of his bed to see if Cody was okay, which, thankfully, he was, before complying with his friend's demands, giving him a small smile as he did so.

After the two boys had gotten dressed, they made their way outside, where everyone else had already lined up in front of Chris. Almost everyone looked tired or mad, aside from one very peppy Ezekiel, standing next to Trent and chatting away at the end of the line, and Beth, who was standing next to a half-asleep DJ, and a fully-asleep Harold.

"Morning! Hope you slept well!" Chris yelled out, as Bridgette attempted to stifle a yawn.

"Can we just sleep for... ten more minutes?" The surfer chick asked, swaying from side to side as she tried to stay awake.

"No." The host replied bluntly, before walking down the line. "Okay, I hope you're ready, because your next challenge begins in exactly one minute!" He tapped at the watch on his wrist, his grin only growing in size.

Heather raised her hand in an attempt to grab Chris' attention. "Excuse me, Chris? I'm not sure if that's enough time to eat breakfast." She attempted to sound as polite as she could, considering her early wake up call and empty stomach.

Chris smirked. "Oh, you'll get your breakfast Heather." He jogged down the rest of the line. "Right after you complete your twenty kilometre run around the lake!" The host chuckled to himself as he watched the campers jump to attention and begin running off to the shore, some more successfully than others.

Noah, however, stayed put. "There's no way you're making me do that. I could barely make it up that cliff for the first challenge, and now you expect me to run twenty kilometres on an empty stomach? Yeah, I don't think so." The tanned boy folded his arms across his chest after pushing his glasses back up on his nose.

Cody sighed and grabbed Noah's arm, trying to drag him along. "Come on, Noah, we don't have time for this." He said, although his friend only dug his heels further into the ground.

"He's right you know," Chris said, walking up to the two campers, "You only have thirty seconds until the challenge starts, and unless you want instant elimination..."

Noah immediately began moving, following the other campers at the thought of being booted off the island all because he didn't want to run, accidentally dragging Cody along in the process as he kept his grip on his arm.

•・・・•・・・•

All the campers were lined up and ready to run, aside from Lindsay, who was scowling at the rest of the group from the end of the line next to Chris. "Okay runners! On your marks! Get set! Go!" Chris yelled, and everyone sped off as fast as they could.

Leading the pack was Geoff, Gwen, and Tyler, although the main reasoning behind this was either that the other campers didn't want to spend all their energy at the beginning, or because they were too lazy or distracted to actually run. Tyler tried to keep his eyes straight ahead as he ran, whilst Geoff and Gwen were having a conversation not very far behind, building on their relationship.

"Okay, so, what you're telling me is, you managed to throw a party so big that you lost your older brother, then mistook a young bear for him, brought it home, and only realised that the bear wasn't actually your brother the following morning after it had ripped up your kitchen?" Gwen asked, a smile on her face as she tried to hold back her laughter.

"Yeah! I'm telling you, dudette, it was the wildest party I have ever been to! Also, my brother is a really hairy guy, like, the dude has probably never seen a shaver in his life he is covered in that much hair." Gwen couldn't help it as she began laughing so hard she needed to lean against Geoff to stay upright, causing his smile to grow bigger as well.

Further back was Trent, Ezekiel, and Duncan, who were all jogging along at a steady pace. The odd trio had managed to get to know each other during the past few days stuck at camp, with Duncan and Trent teaching Ezekiel more about the outside world and how to behave, whilst Ezekiel taught them how to survive away from civilisation and how to find food that was better to eat than Chef's.

They had stumbled across a wild blueberry bush whilst running and picked a couple of handfuls to snack on as they jogged in an attempt to forget their lack of breakfast. "This challenge is kinda pathetic." Duncan said, throwing a couple of berries in the air, catching them in his mouth.

"For you, maybe. But some of the guys on our team look like they could barely run two kilometres, eh." Ezekiel said, eating a couple more blueberries, accidentally breaking the skin on a few in his hands in the process, covering himself in purple juice. Duncan chuckled a little. "Besides, Chris is probably going to add some sort of extra difficult second part to the challenge, based on what the bastard did last time."

Trent sighed, throwing away the blueberries of his that were overripe. "Best not to talk about it and just hope that this run is all there is to it." The other two mumbled in agreement as they continued to jog their way around the island.

In the middle of the group of campers was LeShawna, Lindsay, and Heather, who were discussing strategy. Or, more accurately, Lindsay and LeShawna were discussing strategy, whilst Heather stayed quiet and walked alongside Lindsay. Whilst the former two girls discussed what possible weaknesses their fellow campers might have, Bridgette jogged past with DJ.

"I adore animals, really. It's just a shame they don't like me back." DJ sighed, his voice deep and intimidating to someone who didn't bother to listen to what he had to say.

"It's alright, DJ. I'm sure they'll warm up to you eventually!" Bridgette pat her fellow animal lover on the back in an attempt to comfort him, giving him a small smile. "It'll just take time, is all." DJ looked down at her and smiled back, giving her a little nod.

Further back again was Cody, Noah, Harold, and Beth. Beth had begun talking about mysteries and how much she wanted to solve one someday with a group of friends, or at least attempt to, when Noah stopped walking. He could hear something quiet coming from the bushes and walked over to investigate, the other three noticing his absence after walking about an extra one hundred metres.

Cody jogged over to his friend after spotting him among the bushes, Harold and Beth following soon after. "What'd you find, dude?" He asked, noticing how Noah was bent over something on the ground.

The boy turned around, his hands closed and tight to his chest, as if he was holding a precious treasure and he was afraid to drop it. He opened them slowly as he stood up straight, revealing a small baby rabbit with an injured paw, it's white fur shiny, yet soft to the touch. It was surprisingly calm, and seemed fond of Noah, as it snuggled closer to his chest.

Beth cooed over the delicate creature as Harold walked closer and pet it gently, scratching it behind the ears. Cody looked up from the bunny to see Noah, his normal scowl replaced with a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, and his facial features seemingly softer than normal. Cody almost forgot that he was going to ask a question as he stared at the boy, seeing as he looked so peaceful and at ease at that moment. "What were you thinking of naming them?"

"Huh?" Noah snapped out of his daze and looked up, seemingly only just noticing his friends standing around him. "Oh. I was thinking about calling him Ness."

Cody smirked. "As in, Ness from Mother 2?" Noah looked as if he had been caught off-guard, almost like he hadn't expected Cody to catch onto his pretty obvious reference.

"Perhaps..." The tanned boy muttered, looking back down at his new pet rabbit as it wormed it's way into Noah's jacket, poking it's head out of the top so it could still breathe. The small group of four, finally all out of their trances, continued on their run, this time with a new little friend.

Whilst Noah, Cody, Harold, and Beth had been distracted by the new furry addition to their group, Katie and Sadie had managed to surpass them as they gushed to one another about what they would do if they managed to win the money. Most outcomes included one of the girls gifting the other less fortunate one a part of their prize money.

"How much longer do you think we have to go, Sadie?" Katie panted, fanning herself in an attempt to keep cool with both hands.

"I don't know, Katie," Sadie answered, sweat beads rolling down her forehead. The redhead spotted a way to the main lodge, which she mistook for them having completed their run around the lake. "I think we're done though!" The two girls ran off towards the main lodge, hugging each other happily.

The small group of nerds that had previously been at the back rushed past Lindsay and her group, Beth accidentally knocking Lindsay over a little bit in the process. "Do you mind?" She scoffed.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I don't run, ever. And I most definitely don't run whilst wearing sandals." Lindsay scoffed, tossing her hair behind her shoulders.

**Confessionals** **End**

"Pick it up, people!" Chris yelled into his megaphone as he drove past the contestants on a blue mini-scooter. "If you're not back by dinner time, you don't eat!"

"Ugh, I hate him so much." Lindsay grumbled as she walked over a small waterway with LeShawna and Heather.

•・・・•・・・•

A few more hours went by, and around half of the contestants had made it back to the lodge. Inside was Geoff, Gwen, Tyler, Katie, Sadie, Trent, Ezekiel, and Duncan. Chris filed away at his nails whilst they all waited for the remaining campers to arrive, a few flies buzzing around in the air, trying to get out through the window.

The door suddenly burst open. "Clear a table, stat!" Cody yelled, Noah resting unconscious in his arms, Harold and Beth coming in close behind with Ness. Cody laid his friend down on one of the dining tables and began to push his chest up and down, humming 'Staying Alive' so he could keep the right beat.

Bridgette and DJ entered the main lodge soon after, practically collapsing onto the floor as soon as they got through the door, whilst Lindsay, LeShawna, and Heather were the last three to arrive, with LeShawna coming through the door last.

Cody was about to begin mouth-to-mouth, since Noah still hadn't woken up, when Gwen spoke up. "Hey, since LeShawna arrived last, then that means we won the challenge!" The Screaming Gophers all cheered in victory, including Noah, who had seemed to come to just in time to hear that they had won.

Chris chuckled at the sight. "Woah there, hold your horses guys! That wasn't the challenge!" The host walked over to a curtained section of the lodge.

"What did he just say?" Gwen said, crossing her arms.

"Who's hungry?" The host asked, the curtains parting to reveal a beautiful, freshly cooked meal, practically glowing with a radiant light, all made out of actual, identifiable foods.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"After nearly a whole week of brown sludge, I almost cried when I saw that buffet." Gwen said.

"Never in my life have I ever seen food more beautiful than that," Harold said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, "although it's not like it had much competition based off of my expectations as of late."

**Confessionals** **End**

The buffet had been completely devoured. Nothing remained of the feast except for empty plates and turkey bones, every last scrap of meat having been picked off the bone, every single drop of sauce or syrup licked clean, and the final leaf of lettuce being munched on by one overstuffed Ness, who was currently being pet by an equally full DJ.

All the campers moaned in pain as they held their stomachs, having eaten so much that some, mainly LeShawna, could barely stand up straight and had to lean against something. For the African-Canadian, that something just so happened to be the floor.

Chris ignored their moans of pain as he jumped up onto the buffet table with his megaphone in hand. "Okay campers! Time for part two of your challenge!" He said into his megaphone, waking a few campers from their food-induced dazes.

"I thought that the buffet was part two." LeShawna grumbled from the floor, attempting to lean over onto her side.

"What more do you want from us?" Gwen asked, the pain of eating too much still evident in her voice.

"Gwen's right, dude. Haven't we been through enough?" Geoff asked, leaning against on of the regular dining tables as he rubbed his stomach to try and soothe the pain.

"Um, let me think about that." Chris grinned maliciously. "No! It's time for... the Awake-A-Thon!" The host raised his hands into the air, as if was expecting applause from his audience.

"The What-A-Thon?" Ezekiel asked, his face planted firmly on the Gophers dining table.

"Don't worry, this is an easy one!" Chris hopped down from the buffet table, still using his megaphone as he yelled in the faces of the once again half-asleep campers. "The team with the last camper standing wins invincibility!"

Beth rested one hand on her chin, wrapping one arm around her torso to support her elbow. "So what you're saying is the 20k run and the turkey-eating frenzy were part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?"

"That's right Beth!" Chris yelled through his megaphone as he turned to face the brunette, despite the fact she was standing right next to him.

"Man he's good..." The girl muttered, Harold gaping as he nodded in agreement.

The host grinned at the compliment. "Move, move, move!" He called out, practically pushing all the contestants out of the main lodge as Chef began to tidy up the remains of the buffet.

Geoff and Gwen walked to the bonfire pit together, trailing behind the rest of the pack. "Hey dudette, how long do you think until everyone is asleep?" The blonde party boy asked as he fixed up his cowboy hat.

Gwen looked at the campers in front of them, some already beginning to fall asleep as they rested against the tree stumps at the pit, her emerald green eyes darting between each contestant like a predator analysing a herd of it's prey. "About an hour, give or take." She smiled as she turned to face Geoff. "Maybe less."

•・・・•・・・•

The sun had made it's way down to the east horizon, a significant amount of time having passed since their challenge started. All the campers were still awake, although some were having more trouble than others maintaining that status. Lindsay attempted to stifle a yawn as she combed her hair, determined to always look good on national TV, no matter the circumstances.

"We are twelve hours in, and all seventeen campers are still wide awake!" Chris addressed the camera in a hushed tone, although there was a smirk on his face. He pointed over to the right, where Katie and Sadie were standing together on the outskirts of their group.

The two girls had decided that the best way to keep awake would be to do as much physical activity as possible, however, this ended up having the opposite effect, causing their movements to get sluggish and slow extremely quickly. Then, Sadie suddenly fell asleep, soon followed by Katie, causing the two girls to crash into each other as they both fell, although neither woke up on impact.

A counter popped up on screen, showing the total campers remaining for both teams; eight for the Screaming Gophers, seven for the Killer Bass.

The camera panned over to Noah, who's legs had begun to go weak as he had been standing up for twelve hours straight, refusing to sit on the ground as all the stumps were occupied by other campers. Realising he would probably collapse at any second, the dark brunette reached into his red jacket, pulling out a small blanket that grew to nearly twelve times its original size once he unfolded it.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"This may come as a shock, but I did not want to sign up for summer camp, seeing as I am not a huge fan of getting dirty, or dirt, or outside at all." Noah sighed, taking off his glasses so he could clean them with a cloth from inside his jacket. "But it's kind of hard to disagree with your parents when they have the backing of your eight older siblings."

**Confessionals** **End**

Noah took a seat on his blanket, Ness hopping over from where Harold and Beth had been sitting nearby as they began to discuss remaking Mystery Inc. Absentmindedly, Noah began to pet his fluffy new friend, causing him to completely ignore the soft sound of footsteps on grass, or the strange figure in the corner of his eye that had sat down next to him. That is, until they spoke.

"Hey." Cody said, a small yet tired smile on his face. Noah looked up, his eyes widening slightly as if he still wasn't used to Cody coming up an talking to him out of his own will, despite the fact he had been doing that exact thing for the past few days. The two stared at each other for a little, not doing anything at all, until Ness nudged their head into Noah's hand, annoyed he had stopped petting the small rabbit's fur.

"Uh, hey." Noah finally shook himself out of his daze and continued to pet Ness, although he didn't stop looking at Cody. The setting sun cast everything around them in a red-orange glow, and seemed to give Cody's eyes a mischievous shine. "So, how are you faring, Codester?"

A light blush appeared on Cody's cheeks after he heard the old nickname, but Noah brushed it off as a side effect of one of the other campers lighting a fire in the oil drum. "I'm doing pretty good, actually." The freckled boy lay down on the blanket, staring up at the sky above as it turned from red to a deep purple, stars beginning to decorate it like 100's and 1000's. "What about you?"

Ness hopped away from Noah's hand and rested next to Cody's head, falling asleep shortly after. Their injured paw had healed up nicely; it had only been a shallow wound, so they were able to clean it up with some Dettol and a torn piece of cloth from a clean rag Chef had left lying around in the medical tent. "I've been better." He sighed, and leaned back down on the blanket, resting his hands behind his head as he stared up at the starry sky above. "This has to be one of the most boring things I've ever done in my life."

Cody let out a low hum as he tried to figure out what he was going to say next. His teal eyes drifted from the stars to the boy next to him, examining every single aspect of his face, before he spoke. "It could be worse." Noah looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "I could be stuck here without you to hang out with."

The tanned boy smirked and rolled his eyes, although hearing that did make him feel all fuzzy inside. The two continued to converse, hopping from topics like video games to space and everything in between.

Nearby, sitting on one of the stumps, was Lindsay, fiddling with her hair still. She, being the observant girl she was, had noticed a few of the contestants buddying up with one another. The blonde knew this was going to be a problem for her later on unless she herself became the first person in the show's existence to form an alliance.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"So, my strategy is to get some other campers to for an alliance with me and take to the finals!" Lindsay giggled, before throwing a strand of her perfect hair back behind her shoulder. "The only question is, who can I find who's either desperate or dumb enough to do whatever I say." A cruel smile made it's way onto her lips for a split second.

**Confessionals** **End**

Heather was standing on her head, her back leaning on a tree behind her for support. She fell over within a couple of seconds, but got back into that position as fast as she could. Tyler was on the tree next to hers, doing the same exact thing, except with more success. He cheered her on as best as he could as all the blood rushed to his head, turning his face pink.

Lindsay walked over to them, her smile sweetened as if it were made of artificial sugar. She resisted the urge to smirk at Tyler as his face turned a deeper shade of pink and he stopped encouraging his friend, his eyes looking anywhere but at her, just like any primary-school-aged child would when around their crush. The blonde rested a hand on her hip as her eyes went between the two of them.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked, batting her eyelashes as if trying to look more innocent. In a scramble to get up and face Lindsay properly, Heather fell onto her elbow, making her let out a little hiss of pain as it hit a large tree root. Almost instantly, however, the raven-haired girl recovered and sat up straight, a smile on her face as she untangled her hair.

"Trying to stay awake! Tyler said that if you get more blood to your brain, you'll stay awake longer!" She pulled out some especially large twigs from her hair, causing Lindsay to let out an annoyed sigh. The blonde walked over to the tree stump she had been sitting on previously, where a small red purse was lying, and pulled out two hair ties of a similar shade of red. She walked back over and handed them to Heather, causing the girl's smile to grow bigger. "Thanks Lindsay!"

"Please, don't mention it. Your old ones were so crappy they snapped on the second day." Although her voice was once again sounding sickeningly sweet, the spoiled princess had meant what she said, as she waved her hand in dismissal.

"Well, uh, what are you here for Lindsay?" Tyler asked, getting up after gently leaning forward onto the ground, wiping the dirt off his face. Every time he looked at the girl, his face seemed to turn slightly pink, before he looked away again, sometimes at the ground, sometimes at the other campers, and sometimes at an animal heading home for the night.

Lindsay smiled, folding her arms across her chest. "I just wanted to talk to you two for a sec. Is that okay?" Lindsay and Heather exchanged glances, before shrugging and nodding. Lindsay smirked, resting one hand on her hip. She looked around and made sure no one else was paying attention, before crouching down so she was at eye level with her fellow contestants. "I have a plan to get me and two other people into the final three, and I chose you guys!"

Tyler scratched the back of his head and looked to the ground, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But... I'm on a different team to you guys. Why do you want me in the alliance?"

"Because," Lindsay tried her hardest not to sound annoyed, "in all shows like this, there is eventually a merge once there aren't enough people left. Whilst there are teams, though, you'll be able to tell us all of your team's weaknesses so that Heather and I are able to stick around longer, and your team won't even know there's anything wrong!" Lindsay ended her explanation with a smile as she batted her eyelashes at the brunette.

Tyler gulped, visibly nervous, as his cheeks flushed pink when he once again looked directly at Lindsay. Before he could agree to the alliance, however, Heather cut in. "But isn't that... you know... kind of bad? Going behind your teammate's backs?"

Lindsay couldn't help but let out a groan. "Heather, this is a competition. I bet you others have already made allies and are planning on doing the exact same thing. Have you even seen how close Cody, Harold, and Beth are?" Heather nodded, although she didn't look at Lindsay as she did so. "It's better to form an alliance now, so we can guarantee each other stability in the game, than later."

"Well... okay then. I guess I'll join." Heather finally said, after a short moment of silence. Tyler quickly agreed to it not very long afterwards, before Lindsay got up and walked back over to her stool, her sly smirk not leaving her face even for a second.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"It's cool that Lindsay is taking Tyler and I to the final three with her! And super nice, too. She's, like, the closest thing I have to a friend so far! Aside from... you know... Tyler." Heather smiled and clapped her hands together, grinning excitedly. "I'm so excited! I'll be in the final three with my closest friends!" She let out a little squeal, jumping a little in her seat.

**Confessionals** **End**

Bridgette had been doing cartwheels in an attempt to remain awake, but only ended up making herself dizzy instead. She stumbled around the bonfire pit, searching for a place to sit down and rest, when she noticed a girl with tan skin and dark brown hair, tied back in a low ponytail, with a red button-up shirt over a white long-sleeve one. Her face was blurred, but Bridgette still knew she had never seen the girl before.

"Hey!" Bridgette almost tripped over her own feet whilst walking over, before collapsing down next to the mysterious girl. "I haven't seen you around before! Did you arrive late? What's your name?"

The girl shifted a little on the ground, before looking at Bridgette and giving her a little smile. "I'm Courtney. I, uh, work here. I'm not really meant to talk to the contestants, so..." Courtney went to get up, but Bridgette grabbed her arm.

"Wait! Um, I kinda need someone to talk to! DJ is falling," She looked over at her large friend, and saw that he had already dozed off against a rock formation, "or, has fallen asleep. And I'm sure Chris won't mind! He probably won't even notice, if we're quiet enough!" The blonde gave Courtney her best puppy dog eyes in an attempt to make her stay.

The intern looked from Chris, who was tucked away in a sleeping bag and seemed to be sleeping like a log, then to Bridgette, and finally caved in. "Alright then. But if I lose my job, I'm putting the blame on you." The surfer chick giggled as Courtney sat back down next to her with a smile on her face, already beginning to talk with her about what it was like behind the scenes.

•・・・•・・・•

Morning had arrived, and a whole day had passed since their challenge had started. After Katie, Sadie, and DJ fell asleep, they had left the Killer Bass down six to eight, but as the night had gone on, Geoff had also fallen asleep, although a few other Gophers looked ready to sleep too.

Tyler tried his hardest to keep his eyes open, but they stung and begged to get some rest. When he finally closed his eyes, he instantly fell asleep. During his much-needed sleep, he dreamed of Katie and Sadie, also sleeping just across the pit from him. As they slept peacefully, a giant grizzly bear appeared from behind them, letting out a ferocious roar as it held up a paw and batted them away as if they were nothing more than a few measly bones left over from a good hunt.

Tyler instantly woke up and screamed in fear from his nightmare, although it had already been too late; the Bass were down by two yet again. "Congratulations, campers!" Chris called out, ignoring the jock's outburst, "You've made it to the twenty-four hour mark! Time to take things up a notch!" The host chuckled as Chef came out of a bush nearby, wearing a pink sheep onesie and holding a small harp.

"Fairytales!" Chris pulled a sheet off a nearby pile of books, revealing such classics as Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty.

"Oh, he's not serious!" Gwen said, rubbing her eyes blearily as she leaned heavily against a sleeping Geoff. The loner let out a loud yawn, pushing Geoff around a little to get comfortable, before giving up and falling asleep, not caring anymore.

Chris cleared his throat as he grabbed the nearest book, and Chef played at the strings on his miniature harp, a bored look on his face. A few giggled could be heard from the campers. "Once upon a time, there was, inside this boring kingdom, a boring village, and inside this boring, sleepy, village was filled with boring children, who did very boring things." Beth let out a yawn before going to sleep, falling off her stump in the process.

When no one else fell asleep, Chris decided to resort to more drastic measures. Chef went back into the woods and returned moments later, his chef's hat back on his head, but instead of his onesie, he was wearing a pink leotard and tutu, with pointe shoes on his feet, expertly laced. A group of interns nearby began to play Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, with Courtney as their conductor. Bridgette, who was seated nearby, was quickly lulled into a deep sleep, with LeShawna, Ezekiel, and Heather doing the same soon after as Chef danced and threw around his fairy dust.

The counter popped up once again, revealing that there were only two Bass left, as well as four Gophers. A smirk grew on Noah's face as he checked out who was left, which did not go unnoticed by Cody. "What are you so happy about?" The freckled boy yawned, squinting his eyes due to how bright the sun felt.

"Our team has this in the bag. We have two more people awake than they do." Noah turned on his side to face his friend, his smirk never leaving. "So, I'm going to use that to my advantage and sleep."

Cody instantly went from tired to anxious. "Dude, you can't! There's no way I can stay awake without someone actually interesting to talk to! Come on!" But it was too late, as Noah had already fallen asleep. Cody tried to shake the boy back awake, yet to no avail. Sighing, he settled down once more, still facing Noah.

The tanned boy's mouth hung open ever so slightly, and as he let out a breath there was a quiet whistling noise. Cody realised why the boy covered his mouth so often then, as he noticed the small gap in his teeth. A tired smile made its way onto Cody's face as he finally gave into the sleep he so desperately needed.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I don't know why Noah doesn't want people seeing the gap in his teeth." Cody was facing the camera, but his eyes showed that he was somewhere far, far away. "It's actually kinda cute." His eyes widened as he registered what he had just said, and he clamped his hands over his mouth as his face began to burn red. Quickly, he jumped up and began to fiddle with the camera. "How do I delete footage on this thing? Where's the tape oh god-"

**Confessionals** **End**

•・・・•・・・•

It had been another twelve hours since Chris' last interference, and the sun was below the horizon once again. Lindsay had begun to grow restless, without anyone save for Trent, Duncan, or Harold to talk to. Trent and Duncan seemed to be busy having a conversation about something Lindsay couldn't care to remember, whilst Harold was far too nerdy for her standards.

She walked over to Heather and kicked her lightly, not wanting to hurt her toes. Sandals may not have been the best choice for something like a summer camp, she then realised. Luckily for her, however, a light kick was all the Asian girl needed, as she stirred from her sleep with a tired look still on her face. "Huh? Who- oh, hey Lindsay!" The girl waved, although it was more like she was flopping her hand from side to side.

"We need to talk strategy." The blonde wasted no time in telling her ally why she had woken her up; it's not like she wanted her to think they were actual friends. Heather let out a small noise from the back of her throat before promptly falling back asleep, causing Lindsay to let out an annoyed groan as she walked back to her seat.

Duncan sighed, rubbing the side of his face. He had been doing that same exact action for the past ten minutes, and it had begun to go numb, but he couldn't care less. "Alright, so. We're running out of things to talk about. What's your favourite song?"

Trent chuckled, stretching his arms out in front of them before putting them behind his head. "That'd have to be She Would Be Loved. Favourite colour?" Duncan raised an eyebrow, as if his bright green mohawk wasn't a big enough giveaway. "Right, of course. Favourite movie moment?"

Duncan stopped rubbing his face, finally. Instead, he placed his hand on his chin, as if he actually had to think about the answer to that one. "Hm... any murder scene in any slasher film. Ever. It doesn't matter how bad it is, if it has gore, that's good enough for me." Trent let out a small laugh once again, rolling his eyes.

Harold was swinging his nunchucks around as best as he could, whilst trying not to hit himself or Beth, who was still asleep nearby. So far it had proven to be a more difficult task than he had anticipated, as he had almost hit himself in the kiwis on multiple occasions and barely grazed Beth's face on others. He had already formed multiple bruises all over his body, but he finally hit himself in the face and knocked himself out.

•・・・•・・・•

The challenge went on, taking days and days, but Lindsay, Trent, and Duncan refused to give in to sleep. It had been eighty-five hours now, and Duncan, bored out of his mind, had managed to find a bucket. He had filled it with the icy cold water of Lake Wawanakwa and placed it next to Harold, who was still knocked out after he had hit himself in the face.

Duncan grabbed the redhead's hand and dropped it into the bucket, snickering before running off to Trent, who was too busy trying to stay awake to care. In his sleep, Harold let out a sigh of relief, causing Duncan to let out a hearty laugh. "Oh, gross! It works! Dude peed his pants!" He pointed as Harold opened his eyes. The nerd looked down and, seeing the wet patch, instantly brought his knees up so he could hide it.

On the other side of the pit, Noah had begun to wake up. He seemed extremely close to Cody, closer than he remembered. His ears, still buzzing with the sound of his blood moving around as he woke up, did not pick up on the kissing noises he was making. Cody began to wake up not too long afterwards, and there was a content smile on his face. He glanced up at Noah, who looked down at him, and finally realised what he was doing.

He was kissing the freckled boy's forehead.

Noah shot back, ready to let out a scream, but Cody, who had just realised himself what had happened, clamped his hand across his friend's mouth in a hurry. He raised a finger to his lips and shushed him, eyes wide. "Don't. Say. Anything." He whispered, slowly drawing his hand back as Noah fixed his glasses. "After this challenge is over, we need to talk." Noah nodded, still shocked.

Trent sighed, rubbing his eyes as he let out a yawn. "I could really go for a coffee right now." He said, causing Lindsay to let out a small noise of agreement as she dreamt up all the different delicious ways to get a caffeine boost.

At that moment, Chris walked back to the pit with a large takeaway cup of coffee in one of his hands. "What is the matter with you people?" He took a large, loud sip of his beverage, a grin on his face. "Come on, fall asleep already!"

Trent crawled over, lacking the energy to walk properly. "Come on, man, you gotta give me some. I'll- I'll even eat the grinds!" Desperation clear in his voice, he tried to reach up and take away the cup, but Chris just held it high above his head. "Anything!"

Chris let out an annoyed sigh. "Alright, fine, you three stay with me, the rest of you, go and have a shower, for heaven's sake, you stink!" Harold, still trying to hide the pee stain in his pants, jogged off as fast as he could, whilst other contestants got up and began to walk back to the cabins. Cody and Noah were side by side, just like normal, but they didn't talk to each other the whole way, the event that had woken the two of them up still fresh on their minds.

One of the eliminated campers stayed however, if only for a little bit. "Sorry I fell asleep, eh. Must've been pretty boring." Ezekiel scratched at the back of his neck, an awkward smile on his face. Duncan clapped a hand on his back so hard that the homeschooled boy felt all the air in his lungs escape.

"Don't worry about it, homeschool. Just means I've got more of a chance to win again." The punk smirked, and Trent rolled his eyes at his arrogance.

"What Duncan means to say is that it's entirely understandable. This challenge has to be the most tedious thing I've ever had to do, and the fact I haven't had someone actually interesting to talk to hasn't made this any better." Duncan sent a glare over to his taller friend, but the smirk refused to leave his face, ruining whatever threat he was trying to send off. Ezekiel laughed a little, and began to speak once more, when an intern grabbed him by the arm and began to drag him off to the cabins.

"I'll talk to you guys soon, eh!" He yelled out, waving a goodbye to his friends as they laughed along with him.

Chris took another loud slurp of his coffee and faced the remaining three contestants, his face serious. "I didn't want it to come to this, I said that to Chef Hatchet last night, I said 'Chef! I don't want it to come to this.'" An angry expression overtook his features as his free hand curled into a fist. "'But darn it! These campers are tough!' And so, I've come up with the most boring, sleep-inducing activity I could find!"

**Confessionals** **Start**

"You're kidding me, right? Nothing can be more boring than, well..." Duncan waved his hands around as if the words he was looking for would magically appear if he did so, "nothing!"

**Confessionals** **Start**

Chris brought out a large, thick book from behind his back after handing his now empty coffee cup to a nearby intern. "The History of Canada." Chris opened the book, his sadistic grin betraying the peaceful look in his eyes. "A pop-up book. Chapter one, the beaver. Canada's National symbol, and a 'dam,'" Chris used one hand to symbolise the quotation marks, "fine hat."

Lindsay groaned, grumbling something about how horrible the pun was, as Chris continued, before she collapsed onto the ground, letting out a loud snore as she did so. The words Chris spoke began to mesh together as Trent and Duncan leaned against each other for support, neither one wanting to be responsible for their team's loss.

Eventually, chapter one was finished, and both campers looked just about ready to join Lindsay on the ground. "Alright, bathroom break! Any takers?" Duncan crossed his legs at the thought of finally being able to go to the toilet, and grimaced.

"I've held it in this long, man, I can go all day!" He chuckled, but Trent just raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"Yeah, but do you think you can hold it for another ten chapters?" Duncan's eyes widened and he shot up straight away, heading off to the communal bathrooms, causing Trent to smirk.

"You've got five minutes, as long as you don't mind a little company!" Chris called out after him, slightly angry that he hadn't stuck around to listen to him. The cameraman jogged after Duncan in a hurry, struggling to keep up with him. Trent let out a sigh as he leaned back on his stump, causing him to fall off and hit his head on the one behind him, stirring him back from his near-unconsciousness.

•・・・•・・・•

"Yo, Duncan! You in there man?" The cameraman called, having waited outside for the past few minutes without hearing anything. Hesitantly, the cameraman pulled open the door to the bathroom, only to be greeted with the sight of Duncan, fast asleep on the toilet with his pants down. Sighing, the cameraman pulled a walkie talkie from his shirt pocket and pressed a button on it before speaking into the microphone. "He's down, over."

Chris chuckled from the other end, looking down at the half-asleep Trent lying down on the ground, his feet still propped up on a stump. "Took him long enough." The host muttered, before handing his walkie talkie to a waiting intern. He kicked Trent with his foot. "Looks like Duncan's taken a dive on the can! Which means, the official winner of the Awake-A-Thon is," Trent sighed in relief and let his eyes fall shut, instantly falling asleep. "Trent!" Chris bent down and raised the teen's hand in victory.

"The Screaming Gophers win!" Chris shouted at the camera, and although he was being unnecessarily loud, Trent didn't wake up. The host tried to shake him awake, but when that failed to work, he called over two interns who ended up dragging the teen back over to the cabins.

•・・・•・・・•

Noah and Cody walked behind the communal bathrooms, making sure that no one else was following them. Luckily for them, everyone else seemed to either be sleeping, eating, or showering aside from Harold and Beth. The two nerds noticed their friends sneak out of the Gophers cabin and the anxious looks on their faces, and decided to investigate. They stealthily made their way into the woods, where they followed the two boys by hopping behind trees and between bushes.

"What do you think they're doing?" Beth asked, giddy with excitement. It was a real mystery, not just that, but it was her first one. Harold shrugged, trying to seem cool about what was happening, even though he was excited as well.

Noah and Cody stopped and sat down against the tin wall outside. Neither boy seemed to want to start the conversation, even though they both new it was necessary. Finally, after an awkward and tense silence that seemed to drag on for forever, Cody spoke. "So, uh... about the kiss..." The boy's face flushed pink, something which did not go unnoticed by Harold and Beth as they watched from a flowering bush.

"Can we uh, just forget it happened?" Noah fiddled with his glasses a little in an attempt to divert his nervousness into something other than his voice. "Then we can just continue being friends. Like before. I doubt anyone saw, anyways, thankfully."

Cody looked like he wanted to object, to say he didn't want to forget, but instead he just nodded and mumbled a lot of 'yeah' and 'sure's. The two stared at each other, before Cody cleared his throat and said, "Nice talk."

Noah smirked in response, almost immediately returning to normal. "Yeah. Nice talk." Noah and Cody walked back to the cabins, already talking about some video games they both played, whilst Harold and Beth exchanged glances of shock and excitement.

Beth leapt out of the bush she and Harold had hidden in, doing a sort of dance on the stop that largely involved switching from foot to foot in a rhythmic fashion. "Harold! Do you know what we have to do now?" She squealed in excitement. The redhead shook his head in confusion, stepping out of the bush as well. "We have to set them up! They kissed! This means they're meant to be!" She let out another squeal, before skipping back to the Bass cabin to get ready for the voting ceremony, Harold trailing behind her.

•・・・•・・・•

That night the Killer Bass all gathered at the far-too-familiar bonfire pit, Duncan still passed out from the challenge as he tried to recover the sleep he had lost. Chris walked up to the team, his plate filled with eight marshmallows. "You've all cast your votes and made your decision." There was a smile on his face that was unfamiliar to the campers, sending off an unsettling vibe.

"Now normally, those votes would've counted." The host chuckled, and everyone sent each other nervous glances. "But fortunately for one person, and unfortunately for another, a certain someone made a big oopsie during part one of the challenge. When I call your name, you are safe, and you will receive a marshmallow." A few of the campers began to fidget nervously in their seats as they thought back to the race.

"Harold, Beth, Bridgette, DJ, Duncan, Tyler, LeShawna. You're all safe." The seven campers each happily received their marshmallows and stuck them on their sticks, walking over to the fire to roast them. Katie and Sadie looked at each other, their eyes wide.

"What did we do?!" Katie asked, hugging her best friend as if the moment she let go would mean she would die.

"Yeah! It's not like we made it back to the main lodge late, or... or..." A look of realisation dawned on Sadie's face as Chris chuckled.

"You see, girls, that was the problem. Did you see anyone else at the lodge when you arrived?" Both girls shook their heads. "And did you pass anyone else in the race?" They shook their heads again. Chris let out a laugh. "You know, Harold was meant to go home tonight, but thanks to Sadie's little blunder, it looks like she's the one going home instead for breaking the challenge rules and dragging her friend along for the ride!" Chris tossed the final marshmallow to Katie, who was already in tears.

"But I don't want Sadie to go! I- I can't live without her!" The girl cried out, her hands covering her face as Sadie gave her a big hug, shushing her in an attempt to calm her down.

"It's okay! I'll be waiting for you back at home! You just gotta... win the game for us. Okay?" Sadie reassured her friend, although she herself was sobbing uncontrollably. Katie looked up at her friend with bloodshot eyes, her nose all runny, and gave her the best smile she could manage.

"Okay... yeah, I'll try." The girls shared one final hug before an intern had to pry the two apart, grumbling about how if she didn't move soon the boat would leave without her. Katie waved at Sadie as she boarded the boat and as she left, not stopping until she was nothing more than a small speck on the horizon, before breaking down into tears again as DJ and Bridgette attempted to comfort her.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I meant what I said to Sadie back there." Katie said, still sniffing as she recovered from her breakdown. "I'm going to try my hardest to win!"

"So what started out as a little mystery has officially turned into a full-on quest." Beth said, clapping her hands together in glee. "I can tell Cody likes Noah already, so all I've got to do is make Noah realise how awesome Cody is!" She let out a little squeal, before sighing dreamily. "Beth Robbins, detective and matchmaker! It's what I was born to be."

**Confessionals** **End**


	4. Dodgebrawl

All the campers had arrived at the main lodge and were eating their breakfast, although one side of the lodge seemed to be in a much better mood than the other. The Gophers, after winning the Awake-A-Thon, were all in a wonderful mood as they shared jokes and hung out, still keeping it down enough that Trent could get some much needed sleep.

The Bass, however, were not as cheerful. Duncan had his head down on the table and there were extremely large bags under his eyes, Katie seemed to be coming down with a cold after all her crying, and no one except Harold seemed to have had any sleep. "Woah, Duncan! You look like crap dude!" Chris chuckled, walking up to the dining table.

"Harold snored all night." Bridgette sighed, playing around with her slop as she rested her head in her hand.

"Wow, four nights with no sleep?" The host laughed, one of his hands behind his head. "How much are you hurting?"

Duncan snarled as he turned to face Chris. "Do you wanna find out?" He asked, beginning to rise out of his seat. The other Bass cowered in fear at the punk's aggressiveness, some even hiding behind their seats or under the table. Chris raised his hands up in surrender as he backed up a little, his grin still not leaving his face.

"Nah, dude! It's cool, it's cool!" The door to the lodge could be heard opening as Harold stepped in, a bored look on his face, just as normal. What wasn't so normal, however, was the fact that he now had a very crudely drawn moustache drawn on his upper lip in black sharpie, soliciting gasps from the contestants.

Harold took the attention the wrong way, as he basked in all the looks he was getting from everyone else and walked down to take a seat next to Beth with his head held high and his chest puffed out. Snickers began to erupt from the crowd due to his appearance, and Beth was having a hard time keeping a straight face as well, even if Harold was her friend. Finally, after a few more seconds, everyone else on the table burst out in laughter.

The red headed nerd finally took notice and looked around at his teammates in confusion. "Okay, what is it?"

Beth gave into her laughter and, through uncontrollable giggles, pointed to her upper lip. "Your- your face!" She managed to say between all her laughing. Harold took a spoon from his tray which Beth had grabbed for him when she entered and looked at his reflection on the back of it, finally seeing his fake moustache.

"Hey..." The nerd smiled as he pat the area on his face where the sharpie was, making sure not to accidentally smudge it, "Sweet 'stache..."

Chris held the door open for the other contestant who was slowly dragging themselves inside, his normally upbeat attitude clearly not overpowering how tired he was at that moment. "Hey, everyone! It's Trent!" Chris' announcement was met with applause and cheers from all the Gophers, sans Geoff and Gwen, and even some of the Bass. Trent dragged his feet across the floor, finally collapsing next to Ezekiel at the dining table and dropping his face into his food.

**Confessionals** **Start**

Gwen huffed, blowing a strand of her fake red hair out of her eyes. "So what, he stays up the longest and suddenly Trent is everyone's favourite? This is bullsh-"

**Confessionals** **End**

Lindsay turned to face Heather, her arms crossed over her torso and a stern look on her face. She spoke in a hushed tone, trying her hardest to not let any of the others hear. "I need to go over the rules of our alliance with you. Do you think you'll be able to meet me out behind the Gopher cabins after breakfast?"

Heather nodded, before a look of confusion came across her features. "What about Tyler?" She asked. Lindsay seemed slightly taken aback by the question.

"What about him?"

"Well, it's just," Heather drummed at the table with her fingertips, annoying Lindsay ever so slightly, "don't you think he'd need to know about the rules too?"

Lindsay smirked in response as she turned back to face her sludge. "Don't worry. I took care of that last night."

•・・・•・・・•

The night before, Lindsay had waited outside the Bass cabin for Tyler, waiting for the elimination to be over so she could talk with him, hoping that he hadn't been voted off before she could even properly use him yet. When she saw the jock running ahead of everyone else, Lindsay couldn't help but feel a sense of pride swell in her chest; this alliance was working, by some miracle, even though she was the only one with any real brains.

"Hey, Tyler! Can I chat with you for a sec?" As soon as he saw Lindsay, Tyler slowed his run to a walk, as a lovesick smile grew onto his face.

"Uh, yeah, sure! What is it Linds?" Lindsay led Tyler out behind the Bass' cabin and to the edge of the woods, the light from the common area barely reaching the two.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the alliance," Lindsay edged herself closer to the brunette as she spoke, her eyes lidded and her arms behind her back. "you know, about the rules and all that. How you have to listen to whatever I say, and you can't tell anyone about this. That sort of thing." When she stopped talking, her face was inches away from Tyler's, causing him to be far more grateful for the low light as his face flushed pink.

"Yeah, of course!" Tyler chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Lindsay smirked, and brought a hand to his face, bringing him ever so slightly closer.

"Good." She leaned in and gave Tyler a quick kiss on the lips, before stepping back, her smirk still on her face. "Because it sure would be disappointing for my boyfriend to not be involved in my alliance." Tyler stood there, unable to respond, as Lindsay giggled and walked back off to her cabin.

After a few minutes, DJ walked out of the cabin after he and his teammates realised Tyler was missing. He walked behind the cabins and found him standing there, one hand on his lips and the other in his hair as he thought about the kiss. Sighing, DJ walked over and picked the jock up, tossing him over his shoulder and bringing him back to the cabin so he could sleep.

•・・・•・・・•

Noah and Cody were sitting next to each other at the table, talking obsessively about their regular topics (video games and space), acting as if the kiss had never happened, just like they had agreed to, both still under the illusion that no one else knew about what had happened. Beth watched the two from her table, sneaking glances at the boys whenever she could to monitor their progress.

The part-time matchmaker was fairly certain that the two had gotten closer to each other since they first sat down, but she was unsure if that was true, or just a side effect of her overactive imagination. She nudged Harold to get his attention. "Is it just me or are Noah and Cody closer than before?" Beth asked, keeping her eyes on the two nerds in question.

Harold rolled his eyes at Beth's question, even though he, too, had been watching his friends closely. "Depends. Are we talking physically or relationship-wise?" This earned him a harder nudge from Beth, right in the ribs. Harold could only hope that he wouldn't bruise. "Okay, I get it. But they're having a conversation, it's expected for them to draw closer to each other when they're talking."

"Are you going to help me out here or not?" Beth shot Harold an annoyed glance.

"I'm trying! But Noah could be straight, and this could all be a fruitless endeavour, and-"

Noah's voice cut Harold off as he spoke particularly loud, shock evident in his voice. "Honey, you can't seriously be telling me you've unlocked a secret class in Land of Liar's and Thieves." Cody let out a laugh as he began to explain how to unlock the previously unknown 'Necromancer' class.

Beth smirked and turned to face Harold, her head in her hands and a clearly fake look of innocence in her eyes. Harold pursed his lips and refused to look his mystery-obsessed friend in the eyes. "Okay, he called a guy 'honey,' but we can't just assume these sort of things. Even if he does act and sound," Harold glanced back at Noah, who was staring at Cody intensely, hanging onto his every word. "Really gay."

Chris clapped his hands together as he walked to the centre of the hall, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Alright, campers, next challenge begins in ten minutes! And be prepared to bring it!" He raised one hand in a fist as he put the other on his hip, chuckling as he left the lodge.

•・・・•・・・•

All the campers had assembled inside a glass stadium, the area on the ground divided into two sections. One half had the Screaming Gophers flag, whilst the other had the Killer Bass' one, and in between the two stood a tall wooden referee chair. Underneath the flags was one set of benches divided into two tiers, and Chef stood at the front of the room in a referee outfit without his normal hat on, Chris standing beside him. Duncan pushed open the door with his shoulder, too lazy and tired to open it properly, finally catching up with everyone else.

The punk collapsed onto his team's bench, hitting his head hard enough to let out a loud 'think' sound. A few other campers winced in pain, but Duncan seemed to not be affected by it whatsoever. "Wake me up," he raised a hand to point at his teammates, his unibrow furrowed in anger, "and it's the last thing you'll ever do." He then proceeded to fall asleep.

Tyler gulped in fear, but Lindsay rolled her eyes with disinterest. She wrapped an arm around Tyler and brought him closer to her, causing his face to turn pink. Chef blew his whistle loud enough for some of the campers to fear their eardrums bursting as he walked past them all, a scowl on his face. After walking down to the other end of the court, he shook his head in disgust.

"Today's challenge is the classic game of dodgeball." Chris drew a dark red ball from behind his back, tossing it up and down in his hand. "The first rule of dodgeball is?"

"Do not talk about dodgeball?" Noah quipped, earning a laugh from Cody. Noah smiled at his friend, a sweet look in his eyes. This did not go unnoticed by Beth.

"As I was saying, if you get hit with the ball-" Chris grabbed the ball with both hands before throwing it at Bridgette with enough force to knock her back a few steps, earning shocked looks from some of the nearby contestants. The blonde let out a noise of pain and threw it back at the host, only for him to catch it easily. "-you're out. If you catch the ball, the thrower gets sent out, and the catcher gets to bring in another team member out on the court!"

"Throwing balls, gee, another mentally challenging test." Noah muttered, pinching at the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Cody pet his friend on the back, not looking at him directly as he did so, knowing how much he despised sports.

"Okay now Geoff, try to hit me!" Chris tossed his ball at Geoff, gentler than he had at Bridgette. The party boy caught the ball and smiled. "If you're holding a ball, you can use it to deflect a ball," Chef threw Chris another ball, and the host got into a defensive position, before dropping it onto the ground, "but, if it knocks the ball out of your hands, you're out!"

Heather rested a hand on her chin. "So, just to make sure, what do I do when a ball comes at me?" She asked.

"You dodge!" Chris replied. Geoff finally threw his ball back at Chris, who deflected it with the ball he had just dropped before, sending it straight into Heather with who so much force that the girl fell back onto Gwen behind her, causing the other campers to let out gasps as both girls fell back onto the wooden flooring below. Geoff rushed over and helped Gwen up straight away, making the girl smile.

"You have one minute until game time. Since only five people are allowed on court at a time, both teams will have to sit out three people each game." Heather rubbed at the bruise already forming on her forehead, pouting a little as she followed the rest of her team towards their bench.

Lindsay stood at the head of the group, everyone else surrounding her to discuss their plans for the game. "Okay, we can't get lazy. The Killer Bass are gonna be trying extra hard so that they don't lose again. Who wants to sit the first one out with Sleeping Beauty?" The blonde pointed to the bench behind her, where Gwen was already lying down, yawning as she nodded off.

Noah smirked. "Alright, I'll volunteer." He wasted no time making his way over to the bench and taking a seat, grabbing a book out of his jacket. Cody looked like he wanted to ask how he managed to fit so much in his jacket, but decided not to as he saw Ness hop out soon after and rest next to him on the bench. "Now let's see you guys get out their and dodge!" As the rest of the team made their way to the court, Cody gave Noah one final glance before following, determined to do a good job.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I'm not the greatest at sports, but hey! I figured that maybe I could impress Noah if I tried my best!" Cody stared off into space, before quickly realising how what he said had sounded. "And the rest of my team too! Not... not just Noah." The boy let out a nervous chuckle as a blush made its way onto his face.

**Confessionals** **End**

Both teams were standing at the ready. On the Gophers' side was Heather, Lindsay, Cody, Gwen, and Ezekiel, whilst playing for the Bass was Harold, Katie, Tyler, DJ, and LeShawna. "Bring it on, fishies," Lindsay smirked, a teasing look in her eyes, "or else winning twice in a row just won't be as satisfying."

"Y-yeah! Okay, sure!" Tyler laughed nervously as he finished his sentence, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Both teams ready?" The Gophers and Bass both gave nods of affirmation. "Best of five games wins! Now, let's dodge some ball!" Chris grinned as Chef blew his whistle, signalling that the game had begun. Tyler, Katie, and LeShawna all managed to grab their own balls, whilst Cody, Lindsay, and Ezekiel did the same.

As soon as he grabbed his ball, however, Cody had thrown it at Tyler. The jock had dodged the ball by sidestepping it, and looked back at Cody angrily. The boy gave a nervous smile and backed up a little, as the jock spun around with one arm out, his teammates watching him excitedly. When he finally let go of the ball, however, it went straight towards Beth and hit her in the face.

"Better hope that her glasses aren't broken." Chris chuckled whilst Tyler's ball bounced over to the Gophers side. Seeing an opening as Tyler continued to stare at Beth, shocked, Ezekiel wound up his throwing arm and hurled his ball right at the jock, hitting him square in the back. Chef blew his whistle, and a counter appeared on screen, showing that there were five Gophers and four Bass left.

Geoff let out a loud cheer for his team, and stood up so quickly that he almost tossed the bench over. Noah kept his eyes on his book as he mimicked Geoff, petting Ness with his left hand as he did so. The nerd snuck a glance at Cody, smiling as he saw the brunette stumble after the ball that had rebounded off of Tyler.

Tyler had one hand on his back, rubbing the spot where he had been hit, as he took a seat next to Bridgette, who gave him a light, sympathetic pat on the shoulder. When Chef blew his whistle again, Harold had managed to get Katie's ball off of her, and was staring at the opposing team with a determined look on his face. "Time to unleash my mad skills!"

"Oh yeah? Then you better use those 'mad skills' better than meathead did, string bean!" LeShawna called out from behind him, resting her ball under her arm. Harold began to do a variety of martial arts poses, before launching the ball straight at the ground, causing it to go high into the sky and then land a mere few centimetres away from where it had started.

The ball rolled over to Heather, who took the ball up and looked up at Harold, a mischievous smile on her face. The nerd ran off to try and hide from the ball, letting out a girly scream as he did so. Heather still managed to hit him, so hard in fact, that she launched him into the glass wall of the stadium, causing a loud 'crunch' to be heard.

Chef blew his whistle once again, and the counter changed the number of Bass left from four to three. Beth rushed over to her friend, who was now lying on the ground, unconscious, and dragged him back to the benches. Geoff let out another cheer, this time being more careful, with Trent joining in a little. Heather gave her teammates high fives as she celebrated her throw.

LeShawna finally decided to throw her ball, and it hit Heather right in the face, causing her to fall over just as she had during the demonstration. The girl shared high fives with Katie and DJ as Chef once again blew his whistle, the counter changing from five Gophers to four. Heather rubbed her cheek tenderly as a bruise began to form there as well, matching the one on her forehead.

Katie threw her ball straight at Cody in an attempt to get him out whilst he wasn't looking, but unfortunately for her, he turned around just in time for him to see the ball coming and brace himself for impact. Although the hit did knock the small boy back a bit, he still managed to catch it, and held it up in the air as if it were a hard-earned trophy.

As a high-pitched sound came from the referee's chair as the counter changed once more. Five Gophers to two Bass. Chef looked at the bleachers to his right, where the Gophers were sitting, and pointed at Trent, grunting at him as if to say, 'your turn'. The teen yawned and stretched, before getting up, wobbling onto the court.

Ezekiel threw another ball, this time at DJ, who dodged it before throwing one right back at the homeschooled boy. He dodged it too, right as Trent walked behind him, causing him to get hit by the ball. DJ winced. "Sorry, man!" He called out. All Trent could do in response was give him a weak thumbs up, before walking back to the benches to sit back down.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I hope Trent's okay, eh." Ezekiel said, swinging his feet back and forth. "He's been kinda out of it since the Awake-A-Thon. Hopefully once he gets enough sleep he'll be back to normal."

**Confessionals** **End**

•・・・•・・・•

Some time had passed, and only four people remained on the court; LeShawna and DJ for the Bass, and Cody and Ezekiel for the Gophers. LeShawna and DJ threw their balls at Ezekiel at the same time, and although the boy was able to deflect the first one that came his way, he wasn't able to stop the second one from hitting him in the stomach, sending him off.

Cody looked nervously at his opposition. Both were undoubtedly stronger than he was, and outnumbered him. He also doubted that he was fast enough to dodge two balls coming at him at once. Then, he let his eyes wander over to Noah, still sitting on the bench with Ness as his side, just as he looked up at him. Their eyes locked, and Cody instantly felt more determined to win this round for his team. An idea popped into his head as he looked back at the Bass, a smirk on his boyish face.

Cody tossed his ball into the air above his head, putting a special spin on it, before he caught it and, making sure not to lose any momentum, tossed it at DJ. Just as he expected, the large teen dodged the ball, until it curved back around and hit him in the back like a boomerang. Chris stared at the scene, his mouth hanging open, as if unsure what to say. "That is... one tough ball to dodge!" He finally managed to say, although no one was paying attention.

LeShawna threw her ball straight for Cody's face, but he ducked under just in time, grabbing a ball nearby. He rubbed it against his shirt, causing it to crackle and sparkle with electricity, before he took aim and threw the ball right back at her. LeShawna attempted to run away from it as fast as she could, but the ball refused to stop as it followed her all around the court, until the girl ran straight into the glass, the ball not too far behind as it hit her in the back.

Cody jumped around in excitement as Chef blew his whistle, the Gophers cheering at their victory. Even Noah and Ness had joined in, the nerd having put down his book to give Cody a smile as his fluffy friend let out little squeaks. Cody felt himself go all warm and fuzzy and his face heat up as he saw Noah smile, causing him to smile right back at him.

•・・・•・・・•

The Killer Bass had all huddled together during the break in an attempt to recover from their defeat last round. "We can do this guys! We've just got to believe in ourselves!" Harold said, his hands placed firmly on his hips.

LeShawna scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, I believe alright, string bean. I believe you stink at this game!" Although she was shorter than the nerd, she had no problem intimidating him as she yelled out in anger.

"Yeah, you throw like a girl!" Tyler added, earning a few snickers from his teammates as LeShawna turned her angry glare onto him.

"You should talk, meathead! You knocked Velma Dinkley here back a few feet, and she wasn't even playing, let alone on the Gophers!" Tyler gulped as LeShawna got up in his face, just about ready to beat him up like she had the first day of camp.

"It- it was a warm-up throw! Look, I can dominate this game!" Tyler stood up tall, trying to mask his nervousness as he pointed at himself. "Just give all the balls to me!" LeShawna looked as if she wanted to disagree, but Bridgette cut her off.

"I think that's a great idea, that way he's more likely to hit someone on the other team!" The surfer chick gave Tyler a reassuring smile, one which he very much needed at that moment. "Besides, we know he can hit someone with a ball. All we need is for him to release the ball at the right time as he spins, and we're practically guaranteed to get at least one person out!"

Meanwhile, the Gophers were almost ready. They just needed one more person on their team. "Alright then, Noah, you're up." Lindsay went to drag Noah off the bench, but got nipped by Ness before she could touch him. The bookworm looked up at her, a smirk on his face.

"You know, you guys did such an awesome job on the last game, that I don't wanna mess up your mojo!" He shot Lindsay a finger gun with his free hand.

Cody pouted and shook his friend's arm gently. "Come on, Noah," he whined, and although Noah tried to give him an annoyed glance, he quickly grew soft under the other boy's gaze, "you've at least gotta try! I'll help you out if you need it!" Noah tried to object, but sighed and stood up, shoving his book back into his jacket as he did so. He picked Ness up and walked over to the Bass, handing them over to DJ, before walking back over to his team and giving Cody a small smile.

"Fine then. But only because you were sounding like a two year old, and it was very annoying to hear." Cody stood up and laughed as he gave Noah a quick hug, before they both walked onto the court, Ezekiel going back to take Cody's place on the benches.

•・・・•・・・•

The Killer Bass were all lined up, with Beth, Bridgette, Tyler, Katie, and LeShawna all out on the court. The odd thing was, however, that Tyler was holding four balls in his arms. Cody, Noah, Heather, Geoff, and Gwen stared at their opponents in confusion, before Chef blew his whistle. Instantly, Tyler began spinning around just as he had the last round, hurling the balls in his hands off in four seperate directions.

One ball flew straight into Chef, pushing the wind out of him as it hit his stomach. Another went flying directly towards Chris' head, barely giving the host enough time to duck down. "Hey! Watch the face dude!" He called out. The next ball went flying for the Screaming Gophers' bench, and all three campers sitting there jumped out of the way as quickly as they could.

The final ball flew straight into Heather's battered and bruised face, although this time she managed to stay upright. She groaned in pain and held her face in her hands. "Oh, shoot! Heather, are you okay?" Tyler walked over to the centre line dividing the two teams and held Heather's arms, gently pulling them away from her face. When he finally got a good look at what had happened to her, Tyler tried to contain a gasp.

"Is my face okay?" Heather asked, her vision blurry as she tried to see through one eye that was beginning to tear up. "Nothing looks too broken, does it?" Tyler shook his head, although he wasn't entirely sure. Noah and Cody exchanged looks of worry at Heather's condition. She had the same two bruises from before, one on her forehead, one on her left cheek, but now she also had a black eye forming.

The two friends exchanged a hug, although Heather was careful not to put her face down in case she made one of her bruises feel worse. Noah walked over quietly, a ball in his hands, and tossed it at Tyler, getting the jock out. As he was walking back to the back of the stadium, he couldn't help but smile at Cody as he gave him a big goofy grin with one eyebrow raised. "What is it, Codemeister?"

"You did really good Noah!" Noah rolled his eyes at the compliment, although his smile didn't change.

"Please, it's not like Tyler was actively trying to dodge the ball anyways." The two stood together, staring at each other, ignoring the balls flying around and the occasional whistle blow as they continued their conversation about video games they had started at breakfast.

Beth watched her friends from her side of the stadium, occasionally kicking a stray ball over to her teammates. She didn't mind a bit when a ball hit her in the stomach and she went back over to her bench, continuing to watch Noah and Cody interact, planning something out in her head.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"During the first round, Chris had gotten a phone call, something about this creature called Sasquatchanakwa. I just have to know if this thing is real!" Beth grinned excitedly. "It'd make for a great mystery, and also give Noah and Cody some... alone time if they just so happened to get lost." The girl giggled, rubbing her hands together as if she were a scheming villain.

**Confessionals** **End**

LeShawna, however, was in nowhere near as good of a mood. "Great leading, blondie! We're losing. Again." Bridgette had her head down, refusing to let her tears fall as she rubbed them away. "God knows where meathead is right now, probably off helping that Gopher, and both Chris and Chef are mad at our team!" She continued to tear into her, until Bridgette finally got up and ran out of the stadium.

Courtney, who had been tasked with delivering Chris his coffee, saw the girl run straight into the woods, making her worried. She rushed into the stadium and gave Chris his coffee before running back out, following after her friend. The intern looked around cautiously, wary of any twigs or holes in the ground.

All cautiousness was thrown out of the window, however, when she heard a loud, guttural roar not too far ahead. Courtney ran as fast as she could, scratching her skin against the bark and branches on bushes and trees. She stopped once she reached a clearing, where Bridgette was backed up against a tree, holding one leg close to her that seemed to be bent at an awkward angle. A big grizzly bear stood above her, slowly walking closer to her.

Courtney looked between the two, frozen in place, a shocked look on her face. Out of the corner of her eye, Bridgette saw her friend, and just as she was about to call out to her, Courtney kicked into gear and ran between Bridgette and the bear. Adrenaline clouding her rational thought, she punched the bear in the nose as hard as she could, effectively dazing it for a few seconds, before picking Bridgette up in her arms and running back the way she came.

Instead of dropping her off at the dodgeball stadium, however, Courtney kept running, making Bridgette quite confused. "Where are you taking me?" She asked, her arms wrapped tight around Courtney's neck.

"To the medical tent." Bridgette cocked her head to the side, her brows furrowed. Courtney sighed. "Did you really think I'm letting you continue playing with your leg looking like that?" She motioned to Bridgette's bloody, broken leg as best as she could with a tilt of her head.

"No it's just... I'm surprised Chris actually has a medical tent, you know, based off some of the stuff he's put us through." Courtney laughed as she continued to run, smiling down at the surfer chick in her arms.

Back at the stadium, the Gophers had once again slaughtered the Bass in the competition. Whilst the Gophers cheered over their victory, the Bass looked dejected on their benches, knowing full well that if they lost one more round that they would be out. "This is... really bad." Katie sighed, hunched over in defeat.

"Well, duh. Nice to know you can think without your twin." LeShawna grumbled. "We can't lose again. We need someone who can beat them into a fine powder, otherwise we ain't winning!" Everyone looked over to Duncan, who was still sound asleep, face down on the bench.

"Uh-uh, if we wake him up, he'll kill us!" DJ whispered, shaking slightly in fear of the other male.

"He won't kill us, he wants to win just as much as we do." LeShawna replied, rolling her eyes.

"LeShawna's right! We need Duncan's fierceness to win this!" Harold said, a determined look on his face.

"That's it, string bean! Now go wake him up."

Harold glances at his teammates, his determination slowly turning to fear. "Why me?"

"Because, aside from Tyler, you're the worst at dodgeball." LeShawna stated, crossing her arms. "And if he does kill you, I can't really say anyone here aside from Beth will miss you."

"Well that's harsh." Harold sighed. "But I guess I'll try." The nerd walked out of the stadium and into the woods, grabbing the longest stick he could find before reentering the stadium. He stood next to the door as he reached out to Duncan, prodding his leg lightly. When that didn't work, he prodded his chest, and then once more in the face.

This time, Duncan grabbed the stick, pulling it away from Harold with ease. He stood up, a murderous look in his eyes as he snapped the stick in half, before glancing over at Harold. "You better have a really good reason for sticking this up my nose!" He growled, holding one of the halves like a knife.

"Look, punk, I can appreciate you wanting some beauty sleep and all, but we are down two nothing. We kinda need some help out here." Duncan turned around to see LeShawna snarling at him. He squinted his eyes at her, almost as if he was debating sending his stick straight into her chest out of anger, but instead he just grumbled and tossed the stick to the ground.

"Fine. I'll play." He muttered. "On one condition. You do what I say, when I say it." He brought a finger to his chest, and although she didn't seem happy with the compromise, LeShawna nodded. Duncan smirked. "Okay, here's a strategy I picked up on my first visit to juvie. It's called: Rush The New Guy."

•・・・•・・・•

Both teams waited for Chef to blow his whistle, with Geoff, Gwen, Lindsay, Cody, and Ezekiel playing for the Gophers, and Katie, Duncan, LeShawna, Beth, and DJ playing for the Bass. The whistle was blown, and straight away, the Gophers threw all their balls at their opponents, not getting a single hit in. It was exactly what they wanted. Katie handed LeShawna and Duncan two of the balls, and all at once, the Bass threw their balls at Ezekiel, effectively getting him out.

They repeated this process again and again, first with Cody, then Lindsay, then Gwen, until all that was left was Geoff, who was knocked out just as easily as his teammates before him had been. As the Bass celebrated their first win of the game, Noah gave Cody a comforting pat on the back. "Are you okay? That ball seemed to knock you back a fair bit."

Cody nodded, smiling. "Y-Yeah, I'm just. Yeah." Ness hopped over and curled up in Cody's lap, and the boy began to pat the small rabbit in an attempt to get his mind off of Noah.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I have no idea what on Earth is going on right now with my feelings." Cody admitted, hugging his legs to his chest. After a while he looked down to the ground. "Okay so... that may have been a lie. There was this girl... and a guy... and a few other girls and guys... but that doesn't matter! I don't- I can't like Noah. He's my friend, and I don't wanna ruin that."

Cody fiddled with the beanie on his head a little, before stopping and looking directly at the confessional's camera. "This confessional is... really good at making you confess stuff, huh?" He let out a nervous chuckle, before he ran out in a hurry as his face turned red from embarrassment.

"I'm not dumb. I can tell that Cody's been acting different around me ever since the incident." Noah said, a slightly worried look on his face. "Not like he didn't already treat me differently than he did someone like Harold, or whatever. But we're just friends, and he understands that. I mean, sure, there is a... no. Just friends. You can't catch me out, Chris. I know you're watching." Noah pointed at his eyes, then back at the camera, his worried look turning into one of annoyance.

**Confessionals** **End**

LeShawna looked around at her team, smiling as they talked about what had just happened excitedly. "That was good, but we're still losing. I think we should do the same thing again, so Harold, you sit this one out too."

"But... I sat the last one out!" Harold said. LeShawna let out an annoyed sigh as she crossed her arms.

"It's for the good of the team, string bean." The five Bass players from last round all got back on the court, but LeShawna quickly realised that the benches were looking oddly empty. She counted out who was on their team, doing it once more just to make sure. "Where's blondie and meathead? They should be back by now!"

Over at the medical tent, Heather had had her face patched up by Tyler, who had thankfully had a brief course discussing First-Aid during Health class. The two friends were just chatting and hanging out, largely about their three-way alliance, when Courtney came in with Bridgette still in her arms.

The intern rushed over to the cot that Heather was lying in and gently pushed her out, since it was the only one in there, and lay Bridgette down as if she were made of fine china. Heather and Tyler stared at the new arrivals, their eyes wide, as Courtney pulled a phone out of the pocket on her shirt and began to dial emergency services.

"Do you think we should go?" Heather whispered to Tyler, the two already backing towards the exit. The jock nodded, and they made their way back to the dodgeball stadium when they stumbled across Harold, looking in all the cabins. "Hey, Harold!" Heather called out, drawing the nerd's attention.

Harold sighed in relief when he saw Tyler, walking over towards the two. "Everyone was wondering where you and Bridgette were, dude." The nerd looked around, as if searching for someone. "Speaking of, have you guys seen her?" Tyler and Heather exchanged nervous glances, before pointing in the direction of the medical tent. Harold thanked the two, before heading off, leaving Heather and Tyler to make their own way back to the stadium.

When they arrived back, they were met with both relief and annoyance. Lindsay and LeShawna stormed over to the two and pulled them over to the sidelines of their respective teams, lecturing them for different things. Lindsay seemed to be mad she hadn't gotten any useful information out of Tyler, whilst LeShawna was angry because she thought he was getting too close with a member of the Gophers, even though she herself was closest with Lindsay out of any other contestant.

Chef blew his whistle, and LeShawna had to hurry onto the court, barely making it on before balls started flying. Thankfully for her, however, it was another knock-out round, with the Bass knocking out every Gopher in what felt like a few seconds.

Lindsay did not want to lose after having the clear lead like she had during the first challenge of the season. Narrowing her eyes at the other team, she noticed Katie seeming a little lonely, sitting away from everyone else on her team as they discussed strategy. The blonde smirked as she walked over, resting a head on the girl's shoulder and faking a look of concern.

"What's wrong, girl?" She asked. Looking around, she pretended to only just then notice the significant lack of Katie's best friend. "Where's Sadie?" Lindsay almost mixed up the two girls, a simple mistake, that could've cost her her whole act.

"She got voted off last night." Katie sighed, looking down to the ground. "I really miss her, but I promised to try my hardest to win this for us." Lindsay smiled for all the wrong reasons, a plan formulating in her head.

"That must suck. If you ever need to talk about it, you can come to me!" Katie looked up at Lindsay and smiled back as best as she could, nodding, before joining her teammates in their group huddle. Lindsay whispered something into Tyler's ear, before sliding back over to the Gophers' side of the stadium.

Chef blew his whistle, and the final game begin. Having finally realised the Bass' strategy, the Gophers made sure not to let them get all the balls first so they could ambush individual players, causing the competition to finally become that: a competition. Tyler snuck out of the stadium and into the woods when he made sure no one was looking, assembling different bits and pieces as if he were in kindergarten making an arts and crafts project.

By the time both teams had finally made it down to one person each, Harold had made it back, albeit without Bridgette, and had even managed to be tagged on a couple of times, even though he had gone out almost as quickly as he had gone in. It was Noah versus Katie, and although Noah didn't look particularly happy about his situation, Katie seemed confident in her chances.

Perhaps overly so, as Lindsay pointed out to the woods where Tyler had run off to, a fake look of excitement on her face as she screamed. "Is that Sadie?" She asked, causing Katie to spin around instantly, hopeful that she would be able to see her friend so soon once again.

There, in the distance, was a silhouetted figure who did, indeed, look a lot like Sadie. What it was in reality, however, was a bunch of sticks, logs, and leaves that Tyler had managed to compile together to form a decent-looking knock-off Sadie. Katie squealed and rushed to the glass, looking out at who she thought was her friend. Noah took advantage of the situation, picking up a nearby ball and throwing it as hard as he could, nailing Katie in the back.

Chef blew his whistle, signalling the challenge was over, as Tyler headed back into the woods with his bundle of materials. Katie looked back at her team, her look of excitement turning into one of sadness as she saw their disappointment. "I'm sorry, guys." The girl said, looking back to the glass and seeing that 'Sadie' was gone.

The Gophers carried Noah high up above their heads as they cheered about their victory, much to Noah's discomfort. He looked around desperately for a way to get down, but when he saw Cody looking up at him with a big grin on his face, he relaxed a little, as if that by itself was enough to reassure him everyone would return to leaving him alone soon enough.

When the team finally did let Noah down onto the ground again, it was only so they could all go into their cabin and relax after their long day of exercise. The nerd was left outside, the only other person with him being Cody. "You were- Noah that was- wow!" Cody seemed to be at a loss of words now that it was just the two of them. "I guess I'm trying to say that, uh... you did really good out there."

Noah smirked at his friend, an eyebrow raised. "Thanks, I totally didn't gather that from what literally everyone else was yelling at me on the way over here." Cody chuckled nervously, his gaze falling to the floor. Although hesitant at first, the freckled boy wrapped his arms around Noah, giving him a hug.

"I'm proud of you, dude." He mumbled, his face turning pink. After a few seconds of shock, Noah reciprocated the hug. The two stood like that for a while, completely forgetting about everything around them, until they heard a teammate of theirs clear their throat, causing the two to jump apart.

"Not that I don't enjoy seeing at least somebody finding happiness here, but can you guys maybe not embrace in the doorway?" Geoff asked. Noah and Cody mumbled their apologies as they moved out of the way, slipping inside the cabin. "Thanks dudes." Geoff walked over to the girl's side straight afterwards, waiting for Gwen to exit so they could hang out.

Courtney wheeled Bridgette over to the Bass cabins, a melancholy look on her face. "They're gonna vote you out now, you know that right?" She asked, worried for her friend and her chance at the prize money.

"Don't be ridiculous, Court! They wouldn't vote for me, not when they could vote out someone like Harold or Tyler." Bridgette held Courtney's hand in an attempt to reassure her that everything would be fine, but all Courtney did was sigh and mutter something about getting the blonde's suitcase ready in advance.

•・・・•・・・•

That night, there was a different kind of tension to that of which is normally created at the elimination ceremony. A few campers gave nervous glances over to Bridgette, who's left leg was in a baby blue cast and rested higher than her uninsured one.

"Campers. You've already placed your votes and made your decision." Chris looked at every single contestant, the plate in his hand only holding seven marshmallows. "One of you will be going home, and you can't come back. Ever." The host chuckled, squishing one marshmallow between his fingers as he got ready to throw that. "But I'm sure you all already knew that."

"LeShawna, Tyler, Beth, DJ, and Duncan, you're all safe tonight with a total of zero votes." The six came up and grabbed their marshmallows, every single one of them thankful that they would get to compete for at least another challenge. Katie, Bridgette, and Harold each exchanged glances of nervousness, before Chris spoke once again. "Harold, come up and get a marshmallow." The nerd sighed in relief as he took his gooey treat.

The final marshmallow seemed to have an angelic glow to it, as if it were a lifeline that only one of the contestants would be lucky enough to have. "Katie." The girl let out a cheer as she rushed up to the front and grabbed the marshmallow, leaving Bridgette sitting in her wheelchair in shock.

"I... what?" She looked over at her team, most of them refusing to look back, whereas LeShawna stood her ground, a smirk on her face. "You guys... voted me off?" Bridgette's voice was quiet, as if she was still trying to understand what had just happened.

"Well, it was a simple question, blondie. Do we keep the injured girl or the sad one?" Courtney shot the girl a glare as she came out from a closed off area nearby, giving Bridgette her board as she held her luggage and rolled her away to the Dock of Shame, the only person to follow after them being DJ.

Courtney didn't come off the Boat of Losers after stepping onto it with Bridgette, leaving Chris very confused. "Intern, why are you leaving? You can't leave, your legally forced to stay here until the season's over!" The host yelled.

"I called the producers and they said I could switch over to the Playa." Courtney yelled back, a happy look on her face as she thought about how much simpler her job would be now. "Good luck without your hardest worker, asshole!" Chris stood there, gaping, as DJ waved goodbye to the two girls before walking back to the cabins, crying ever-so-slightly.


	5. Not Quite Famous

"Ugh! I can't believe this!" Lindsay groaned, searching through her suitcase for something. Gwen rolled over in her bed, an annoyed look on her face after being woken up, her red hair a mess. "I'm out of fake tanner already!" Gwen rolled her eyes as she sat up, patting her hair down with some saliva she spat onto her hand.

"That's certainly tragic, Lindsay." Gwen grumbled, sarcasm dripping from every word she spoke. Lindsay shot her a glare, before leaning back in defeat.

"Now I'm going to have to actually sun tan. Do you know how bad that can be for your skin?" The blonde shuddered, thinking of all the possibilities. Gwen grumbled as she tossed her legs over the edge of her bed, getting up and stretching out her back.

There came a loud noise from a speaker outside, sending a seagull that had been nesting in it to fly out from shock. "Rise and shine, campers, enough beauty sleep!" Chris said, an overly cheery tone in his voice. "Time to show us what you're made of!"

Ezekiel, Trent, and Duncan jogged out of the woods, having already woken up hours beforehand. "What do you think he's making us do this time, eh?" Ezekiel asked, far less tired than his friends were after being raised an early bird.

Duncan smirked as his mind began to wander. "Maybe he'll make us track down that bear that mauled Malibu the other day." Trent and Ezekiel gave him looks of shock and horror. "Relax, guys, she's fine. The thing just tore her legs up a little."

Trent rolled his eyes and gave the punk a light punch in the arm. "Hopefully it won't be something insanely dumb and deadly."

•・・・•・・・•

All the campers had been sat in front of a stage, shielded with velvet red curtains that had been decorated with a golden trim and tassels. Although some of the contestants, like Beth, Lindsay, and DJ, looked excited, others, mainly Duncan, looked less than happy.

"You're kidding me, right?" Duncan asked, squinting his eyes at the set-up in front of him. "Chris can't seriously be making us watch a musical as a challenge. What is this, the Awake-A-Thon Part 2?"

Gwen made her way to the seats, and saw Geoff sitting on his lonesome. "Hey, dudette! I saved you a seat!" He patted the empty space to his left. She smiled and walked over, sitting beside him, allowing him to put an arm around her shoulder. The two looked away from each other, but had small smiles on their faces as their cheeks turned slightly pinker than normal.

Noticing Tyler on the opposite side of the open area, Lindsay smirked. She blew the jock a kiss, delighted by the fact that he was still very much into her as he turned away and blushed. Heather looked between her two friends, a confused expression on her face. "Is there something going on between you and Tyler?"

Lindsay glanced at the shorter girl, her expression souring. "Aside from the alliance, not anything official, no. Why, is that important to you?" The blonde snarled, causing Heather to shake her head quickly in fear. "Good." Lindsay whipped her head back towards the front, causing Heather to get some hair in her mouth as she was slapped across the face.

"Welcome to our brand new, state-of-the-art, deluxe, outdoor amphitheater!" Chris declared, making his way up the steps that led to the stage. "Okay, this week's challenge is a summer camp favourite, the Talent Contest!" The host threw his hands in the air, expecting some form of excited reaction from the campers which, thankfully, he got. "This will be the first-ever reward challenge. Whichever team wins will, instead of gaining immunity, be granted a reward for their troubles! Neither team will have to worry about sending someone home today.

"Each team has three hours to pick their most talented campers. These three will represent them in the show tonight! Sing, dance, juggle, anything goes!" Chris turned to face Duncan, who seemed to have begun plotting something for his act. "As long as it's legal." Immediately the punk lost his malicious grin, sighing in defeat. Trent and Ezekiel gave him sympathetic pats on the back.

"You'll be judged by our resident talent scout, former DJ, BJ, and rap legend!" Chris paused in an attempt to create a small amount of suspense, drawing out the first syllable on the next sentence he spoke to add flair to his speech. "Grandmaster Chef! He will show his approval via the Chef-O-Meter!" Chris pointed above his head, just as a giant spoon with Chef's face on it dropped down to hang over the stage, ten bars on it that were all coloured a deep red.

"As mentioned before, this is a reward challenge, so neither teams will be sending a camper home, regardless of whether they win or lose." The host snickered. "However, I made sure that this reward was especially good, so you may wanna keep up your game anyways. Good luck!"

As the host walked off stage, both teams began to huddle up. Lindsay had been handed a clip board by one of the interns, effectively making her team captain for the challenge. She put two fingers in her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle, causing those nearby to wince in pain. "Alright everyone, to the cabins! Since I'm team captain, I'll be assessing each of you, provide you have anything you wish to show, and be picking the three people to represent us."

"Hold on," Gwen said, a miffed look on her face, "who elected you team captain, exactly?" Lindsay smirked at Gwen as some of the campers began to walk off, not in the mood to argue.

"I did. Now it might be a good idea to head off if you want to remain in good graces with everyone else." Lindsay flipped her hair as she turned around, heading off to the cabins. Geoff stayed behind with Gwen, giving the girl a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, it's okay." He said, smiling. "Chris said it's a reward challenge. It's not like you're at a risk of going home tonight." Gwen looked at him, staring into his eyes intently, before smiling back. She gave him a small nod, and they began to follow their teammates, Geoff sliding his hand into Gwen's as they walked.

•・・・•・・・•

The Killer Bass were assessing their team members, and Katie was up. She was attempting to do a dance that was clearly meant for two by herself, improvising as much as she could to make up for Sadie's absence. As the music ended, she posed with one hand on her hip, the other held high in the air and a smile on her face as she thought about what it would be like if Sadie was still there, before quickly shaking it away.

The rest of the Bass were giving each other shocked and confused looks, unsure how to feel about Katie's act. "We'll... consider it." Beth finally said, earning a smile from Katie as she went to rejoin the group.

Over on the Gophers side of the cabins, Ezekiel was demonstrating how much he was able to lift, which turned out to be a surprisingly large amount, thanks to his life on his farm. After he was done, he sat next to Trent, a smile on his face. "You did pretty good, man!" Trent said, giving Ezekiel a strong pat on the back.

The farm boy chuckled, before turning to face his friend. "Thanks. You should audition, eh! There has got to be some reason why you brought a ukulele to the island aside from aesthetic purposes."

Trent scratched the back of his neck. "Well... yeah. But I'm no good without lyrics. Gotta get the feel right, y'know?" Ezekiel nodded in understanding, even though he had no idea what Trent was talking about.

Gwen had gotten bored very quickly, as she was, understandably, not a fan of seeing the mediocre talents of her teammates. She got up, an unnamed book in her hands, and began walking off, when Lindsay noticed her. "Where are you going, Gwen?" The blonde asked, a slight hint of annoyance in her tone.

The redhead turned around to face the self-assigned team leader. "Anywhere but here." She replied, before continuing to walk away. Lindsay let out a low growl, before her eyes landed on the book in Gwen's hands. A smirk came across her face as an idea was formulated in her mind.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I'm no idiot." Lindsay stated. Only one half of the confessional was showing, the camera closed in on her face. "When a girl like Gwen, who is practically a textbook emo wanna-be, is holding a book with no title, or anything at all, for that matter, on the front cover, goes off to be alone, they're writing in a diary."

There was a loud laugh from next to her, and the camera zoomed out, revealing LeShawna painting Lindsay's fingernails red. "No shit. What are ya gonna do about it?" There was an intrigued expression on her face, and a malicious look in her eyes.

Lindsay thought back to Trent and Ezekiel's conversation, which she had the pleasure of overhearing beforehand. "I'm going to use it to my advantage." The two girls laughed together, before continuing to do their nails.

**Confessionals** **End**

Tyler played with his yo-yo, throwing it out horizontally in an attempt to begin doing tricks with it, before it wrapped itself around him once, twice, then several times, causing him to get tied up like an animal before slaughter. There were a few embarrassed coughs from the audience as Chris walked by, chuckling awkwardly. "Man, that is weak."

Heather exited the Gophers cabin, dressed up in proper ballerina gear, a cheery smile on her face. She leaped gracefully off of the steps and began dancing, showing off her experience to her audience. Lindsay used their distraction to her advantage, as she went inside of the Gopher cabins. She had seen Gwen enter with her diary a few minutes earlier, exiting without it, allowing Lindsay to set her plan into action.

She grabbed a book from Heather's suitcase, a classic fairy tale novel, and put it onto her bunk for later. She then started searching through everything on Gwen's side of the room, only to discover that she had a lot more books than she had previously thought. She dug through piles of books, only to find it wasn't there.

She heard the music outside begin to finish, her time almost up. In a hurry, Lindsay threw all the books back into Gwen's suitcase, before checking in the second most obvious place, to her, to look for the diary. "Finally." The blonde muttered, bringing the dark blue book out from the straw mattress of Gwen's bed.

Lindsay hid the diary in her suitcase, grabbing Heather's book off her bed before walking calmly outside, stopping besides where Trent was seated on the steps to the cabin and taking a seat. Heather finished her performance and bowed as the rest of the team clapped, although it was, for her, bittersweet.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"Originally I wasn't going to audition," Heather said, her eyes downcast, "but Lindsay said that I needed to if I wanted to stay in the alliance because she was going to need a distraction. I don't know what for, but..." Heather fiddled with one of her pigtails nervously, "Hopefully something good."

**Confessionals** **End**

"Hey, Trent!" Lindsay said, resting a hand on Trent's shoulder flirtatiously. He glanced over at her, unaffected, and although Lindsay continued to smile, secretly she was annoyed and confused as to why her mannerisms weren't working. "I couldn't help but overhear you and Ezekiel talking earlier, and I managed to find you some material you could perhaps use for a performance?" She showed off Heather's book, thanking whatever entity was watching over her that it looked almost identical to Gwen's diary.

"Oh, uh... cool!" Trent took the book cautiously, shrugging Lindsay away as he begun flipping through it to check what lay in its pages. "Thanks, Linds." Trent got up and headed into the boy's side of the cabin, undoubtedly searching for his ukulele so he could perform.

DJ was finishing off his ribbon dance for his teammates, surprisingly graceful as he spun the long, pink cloth around in the air, finishing by turning it into a giant bow. The Bass applauded him as he rejoined them, untying his ribbon as he did so. Harold stepped up to the front and prepared to perform as he took in a deep breath. "Next!" LeShawna called out, causing him to breath out straight after, his back hunched forward.

Beth stepped up to the front, two batons in her hands. Duncan lit both ends of them with his lighter before running to the back of the group, fairly confident she was going to mess up as she begun twirling them around in her hands. LeShawna looked on in horror, leaning back as Beth accidentally drew closer. "Are you sure this is safe, Velma?" She asked.

"It's okay, I've been practising!" Beth answered, ignoring the nickname she had been given. She accidentally threw one baton, causing her to look nervously down at the other, before tossing that one up in the air too in an attempt to make her accident look intentional.

They flew out of control as they flew high into the air, before curving their ascent and falling back down to the ground. "Run!" Katie screamed, and all the Bass scattered in different directions. Beth grabbed Harold by the arm and dashed over to the Gophers side just as one of her batons landed where she had been standing moments before.

"Beth, what the heck?" Harold asked, an angered look on his normally bored face. Even though the danger had subsided, as the second baton had landed moments later on a dead tree stump, which had gone up in flames for a few seconds before crumbling into ash, Beth continued to run over to the Gophers, dragging Harold along.

"This is the perfect time to set Operation Sasquatchanakwa into action!" Beth squealed excitedly, pulling her magnifying glass out of her pocket. Harold sighed, although he did look significantly less angry than before. "And I uh, kinda missed the catching class."

Harold looked ready to comment on how it was probably a bad idea to throw flaming batons into the air if she hadn't attended catching class when Beth called out to Noah and Cody, who were separated from the rest of the group, opting to sit on the outskirts of the woods with Ness than watch their teammates demonstrate their talents. "Hey guys!"

Cody looked up and waved at Harold and Beth, a goofy smile on his face. "Hey, hows it going?" The two nerds sat beside their friends, Ness hopping over to inspect them. "Noah and I were just talking about the newest Kosmic Kaos release. Do you guys wanna join in?"

Beth shook her head, smiling back at Cody. "Harold and I were just wondering if you'd like to join us on a mystery!" Cody's eyes widened in wonder of what could possibly be in store, whilst Noah rolled his eyes.

"Look, I appreciate the offer and all, but there is no way you can expect me to... to..." Cody had grabbed Noah's hands in the middle of his rant, holding them close to his chest as he attempted to convince his friend with puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately for Noah, it was working. "Ugh. Fine. I'll come along." Noah muttered as he looked down at the ground, a blush coming onto his cheeks.

Beth squealed in excitement at the mystery solving that awaited them as the group of four stood up, Noah picking up Ness and placing them in his jacket so that their head poked out of the top. Together, they headed off to the woods, Beth and Cody chatting excitedly about Sasquatchanakwa as they did so.

Geoff brought out his bright yellow skateboard as he went to stand in front of the rest of the group, tossing it on the ground and stepping on it with one foot. He began rolling across the ground, looking for a ledge to use, before deciding to use a pair of tree stumps as miniature ramps to perform little flips on. When he was done he was met with applause, albeit softer than Heather's had been.

His skateboard tucked safely under his arm, Geoff sat down beside Gwen, leaning back on the top step of the cabin for comfort. "So, uh... how'd you like it?" Gwen turned to face Geoff, an amused look on her face.

Gwen mimicked Geoff's relaxed posture, resting her hands behind her head as she did so. "It was pretty cool. Don't see why you're asking me, though." She smirked as Geoff stumbled over his words, looking for an explanation, although it was out of amusement instead of malice.

"Because... you know... you're like, really cool and I thought 'hey, Gwen's pretty cool, so she must like cool things' y'know?" Geoff chuckled nervously at the end of his sentence, placing his skateboard down and rolling it around a little. Gwen placed her hand over his to get him to stop, causing him to look up into her eyes instead of down at the ground.

•・・・•・・・•

The chosen six had all gathered backstage, with Trent, Heather, and Geoff representing the Gophers, and DJ, LeShawna, and Katie representing the Bass. Whilst Trent was practising on his guitar, Lindsay snuck out from between the two sets of curtains and took the book of fairytales, replacing it with Gwen's diary.

The blonde walked over to LeShawna, making sure to hide the book she had in her hands. "Hey, LeShawna. I need to talk to you for a second." LeShawna looked Lindsay up and down as if trying to figure out what she was hiding, when she noticed how her hands were conveniently tucked behind her back as if hiding something. The African-Canadian teen nodded, and together the two girls walked off towards the confessional, giggling the whole way.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"This has all been too easy." Lindsay flipped through Heather's book, a smile on her face. "In a way, it almost wasn't fun. But the reactions should be all worth it."

"Man, you're evil, girl!" LeShawna laughed, combing Lindsay's hair thoroughly. "I can assure you that this'll work, I mean, have you even seen the glares Gwen has been shooting Trent at times? She's more paranoid about that boy than DJ is about hurting those wild animals in the woods, as if they won't get eaten by bears or something anyways." Lindsay laughed along with her friend, almost tearing a page out of the book she was holding on accident.

**Confessionals** **End**

"It's the TDI Talent Extravaganza!" Chris announced into his microphone, the floodlights illuminating the stage and the stands as the sun had begun to sink below the horizon. "Welcome to the very first Camp Wawanakwa talent contest, where six campers will showcase their mad skills, and desperately try not to humiliate themselves! First up for the Screaming Gophers is: Geoff!"

The Screaming Gophers applauded their teammate as he rode his skateboard onto the stage, where two ramps had been placed by a group of interns. He waved at the campers, before he began doing tricks and jumps on the ramps, getting higher each time, until he finished by kicking his board into the air and landing on it at the top of one of the ramps.

The Gophers let out cheers of glee as the Chef-O-Meter flashed green on seven of its ten bars, Chris walking onto the stage as he did so. "Not gonna lie dude, I kinda expected you to snap that thing in half. But good job! Now make some noise for the big guy: DJ!" Geoff high-fived DJ as he was dragged off stage, still up high on his ramp.

Elegant music began to play as DJ pulled his ribbon out of one of his hoodie's pockets and began to dance, throwing it high up into the air and jumping, accidentally tangling his legs up in the process and landing flat on his face. The Bass winced in second-hand pain and embarrassment as DJ got up and untied the ribbon, attempting to end his act as gracefully as he could by balancing on one leg.

"Dainty, and yet masculine!" Chris said as he made his way back onto the stage. "Let's see what Grand Master Chef thinks!" The Chef-O-Meter only had two of its bars glow, and DJ sighed dejectedly at his rating. "Not much. So, with two down and four acts to go, it's the Screaming Gophers screaming ahead!" DJ walked off-stage as Heather tip-toed on, a stoic expression on her normally cheerful face. "Take it away, Heather!"

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I'm really hoping Lindsay isn't planning anything too bad. I know she's trying to divide the team up so it's easier to get people to vote the way she wants when we lose, but..." Heather toyed with her pigtail out of nervousness once again, "I don't want anyone's feelings to get hurt."

**Confessionals** **End**

Heather performed her dance with an unexpected amount of grace (to everyone except the Gophers) as the miniature orchestra played a shortened version of Waltz of the Flowers. Everyone looked on in awe as she finished her performance and she took a graceful bow, both teams erupting into cheers and praise as she did so. Chris looked on from the side of the stage in shock as Chef gave a rating of nine points.

Heather leaped off stage in one graceful bound as the second Bass contender, Katie, stood up and began to dance. Backstage, DJ had launched into a panic upon realising that their final performer was nowhere to be found. "Heather! Did you see LeShawna in the crowd anywhere?" He asked, panicked. Heather shook her head as DJ ran off, calling out for his teammate.

Meanwhile, out in the woods, Harold, Beth, Noah, and Cody had all stumbled across a clearing that seemed to split off in two directions, one to the east and the other to the west. "Noah and I are the only two with torches, so I say we split up." Beth announced. "Harold and I will go west, whilst Noah and Cody can go east." She grabbed Harold by the arm and began to walk off, keeping their torch at eye level as they headed down the unbeaten path.

Noah sighed as he began to walk down the path, Cody sticking close to him. There was the sound of a twig snapping beneath their feet and Cody jumped, paranoid and scared of the sudden noise, quickly attaching himself to Noah's left arm. Ness also appeared to be scared, as the bunny hid itself in the depths of his owner's jacket.

They continued to walk on in silence, although neither of the two looked at each other, instead eyeing the surrounding scenery warily. Occasionally a bush would rustle or a nocturnal animal would let out a noise, but the silence was mainly filled with crickets chirping. "H-hey... Noah?" Noah looked at Cody, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "Thanks for uh... coming along and all. I know you didn't want to."

Noah snorted, smiling a little and revealing the tooth gap Cody had grown to adore. "Yeah, well, I couldn't exactly say no to you." If the torch he had been holding had been facing anywhere other than straight forward, Noah would have noticed the blush beginning to cover Cody's face that could have rivalled his own.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"He... couldn't say no to me?" Cody had a hand on his chin as he looked off into the distance, thinking. "That couldn't possibly mean that he- don't get your hopes up, Cody, you idiot." Cody put a palm to his face, angry with himself for even considering the possibility.

"If Cody wasn't onto me before, there's no way he isn't now." Noah groaned, burying his face in his hands and messing his hair up in the process. There was a squeak from his jacket, and Ness hopped out, slapping Noah lightly with one of their paws. "Don't give me that look, Ness. It's not like you've got a crush on your closest friend and... are talking to animals for comfort." Noah sighed as he fixed his hair.

**Confessionals** **End**

Cody chuckled nervously, looking at Noah lovingly. "That's sweet of you to say." They walked through the woods, falling into silence as they once again fell into silence. As the night grew darker, Cody noticed a strange pattern on the ground. He stopped and bent down, finally letting go of Noah's arm as he studied it. "Hey, check this out."

Noah squatted down next to Cody and eyed the ground, Ness hopping out and sniffing it suspiciously, before squeaking in fear and hiding in Noah's jacket once more. "It looks like a giant footprint." The two exchanged glances, before continuing to walk, this time even more cautious of the woods around them, each tree suddenly seeming far more threatening than before.

•・・・•・・・•

Trent got up on stage as Katie finished with a score of five, his ukulele in one hand along with what he thought was a book of fairy tales, and a stool in the other. He sat down in the middle of the stage, and opened up his book on his lap, still not looking at the words that lay inside. Trent prepared his ukulele by pressing his fingers on the chords and getting his right hand in a strumming position just above the strings. He took a deep breath, before he begun to play.

He played the first half of the interlude, before looking down at the book and reading the first line on the page. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth opened and closed for a bit as he slowed down his playing, before taking a deep breath and continuing as normal. "When I came here I didn't expect to make friends," he sang, a nervous look on his face, "but I guess we have no control over what happens in the end,"

Gwen watched in confusion, as if the lines he was singing were familiar to her, before a look of realisation dawned on her face. "No way..." Her mouth hung open as a flame began to burn in her eyes, a fire of pure and utter hatred.

Geoff glanced at Gwen and, cautiously, he put a hand down on her shoulder as Trent continued to play his ukulele and sing. "Hey, Gwen, dudette, is everything okay?" He asked, glancing between her and the performance on stage.

"I guess you could say that I've fallen hard, life hasn't given me all the right cards, but in the end, at least we're friends." Trent snapped the book shut as soon as he finished playing and tossed it to Gwen as best as he could. She caught the book and glared at him with a look so deadly it could kill.

Duncan snickered as the Chef-O-Meter began to flash, all the bars fully green. "Was that for me, pretty boy?" He yelled, a smirk on his face.

"Actually-" Trent began, before Gwen stood up, an enraged look on her face.

"He used. My. Fucking. Diary. For his stupid fucking song." She said, grinding her teeth in frustration. A few of the campers began to whisper with each other about the situation as Gwen stalked towards the stage. Duncan and Ezekiel immediately got up, realising what she was going to try and do, and tried to grab her to stop her. In her rage, Gwen easily fought the two off, before lunging at Trent, causing his ukulele to fly out of his hands and skid across the floor and off stage.

The Chef-O-Meter instantly went from a perfect score to nothing, as what still remained of Chef's morales kicked in. A couple interns ran onto the stage and dragged Gwen and Trent apart from each other, Trent sighing in relief as Gwen kicked and screamed, trying to get out of their grips. Chris looked around cautiously, making sure they were gone, before walking on stage and clearing his throat.

"It seems that thanks to that... uh... lovely performance, the Gophers have a final score of sixteen. For the final act of the night, we have LeShawna. Can she pull it around?" Chris chuckled. "Considering she's nowhere to be seen, I seriously doubt it." He walked back behind the curtains, and the whispering in the audience began to grow louder the longer the stage was empty.

After a few minutes, Chris was ready to wrap up the show, when Harold stumbled out of the woods, a raccoon scratching at his face. "Timmy! Calm down, Timmy!" Beth shouted, chasing after the two. Timmy, which was the raccoon's new name, hopped off of Harold's head as requested, but only after Harold had made his way on stage.

The red headed nerd stared out at the audience before him, everyone now silent. Harold put two and two together and realised they were all waiting for a show, which he was happy to provide. He let out a sigh, before he began to beatbox, gradually building it all up and occasionally letting out a 'gosh' or 'awesome' as he revealed the mad skills he had been talking about the whole time, before finishing it off with a 'booyah.'

Both sides of the audience gave the teen a standing ovation, extremely impressed by his beatboxing skills, as the Chef-O-Meter revealed that Harold had been given a perfect score. "Wicked beatboxing, dude!" Chef said, coming out from behind the curtains, also applauding Harold's skills. "Seems like the Bass did have another win in them! With a total of seventeen, the Killer Bass beat the Screaming Gophers by a single point, winning them tonight's reward!"

Chris motioned for the campers to follow as he led them over to the cabins. Lindsay and LeShawna, who had been hiding and watching from the confessional the whole time, sneakily joined in at the back of the group when they made sure no one was looking. When everyone had made it to the cabins, there was a large something next to the Bass' cabin, that had been covered in a giant tarp.

Chris pulled the piece of fabric off, revealing a brand new, sparkling clean shower block, specifically for the Killer Bass. "Your prize for winning today's challenge is your own private showers that get regularly cleaned by the interns!" Chris announced as the Killer Bass stared in awe. It may have been barely over a week, but practically every camper had already grown sick and tired of the grungy communal bathrooms.

Everyone headed into their cabins for the night as Chris told them goodnight, skipping out on the 'sleep tight' and telling them instead to wear their bug spray to prevent the bed bugs from biting. Harold and Beth hang back however, realising they were down two nerdy friends. Timmy had climbed up Beth's leg and was making a home out of her hair, when they realised that Noah and Cody were still in the woods.

•・・・•・・・•

Noah and Cody had been following the footprints for what felt like hours, when they finally stumbled across a cave. Inside there was a light source bright enough to light even the most outer edges of it, and so, naturally, the two boys decided to investigate.

Noah held his flashlight up like a blunt weapon, whilst Cody had managed to find a long stick which he had gripped in his hands like a sword. Their hearts beat so loudly in their chests that they failed to hear the sound of footsteps from behind them, getting louder as they drew closer.

They counted to three as they stood next to the entrance of the cave, before jumping in, screaming as loud as they could in hopes it would scare off any potential inhabitants. Luckily for them, there was nothing inside of the cave. Unluckily, however, there happened to be exactly what they were looking for right behind them.

Sasquatchanakwa tapped Cody's shoulder, prompting Cody to freeze up. The teen turned around in a comically slow fashion, as if doing so would delay or even stop the inevitable freak out he would have, when he finally came face to face with the island's resident cryptid. Gasping and searching for what words to say, Cody let out a little squeak, and Noah immediately stopped what he was doing.

"Cody are you- is everything okay?" Noah asked, trying to hide how flustered he felt after his crush had let out such a, what he found to be, adorable noise. He turned around to see what was going on and the colour drained from his face as he saw the mammoth-sized creature standing before him, covered head-to-toe in purple hair and smelling absolutely rancid.

"What... what do we do now?" Cody asked, edging closer towards Noah until he was finally able to grab the teen's arm with one hand so he could continue to hold his sword-stick with the other. Instead of responding, Noah fled from the cave, wanting to get away from there as fast as he could, dragging Cody along with him.

The two teens ran through the trees and bushes as fast as they could, completely forgetting the path they had taken to get to the cave as they used their torch to guide them. Sasquatchanakwa followed closely behind, entirely out of curiosity, as they begun to make their way up the 1000 foot high cliff they had climbed for their very first challenge.

Noah and Cody stood on the edge, gripping onto each other in fear, with Ness on top of their heads in an attempt to get as far away from the water as they could, the light from their torch unable to show them much more. Clouds covered the moon in the sky and they were unable to spot the safe zone. Sasquatchanakwa began to close in on the two, the ground beneath Noah and Cody's feet slowly slipping away as they edged as far as they could without jumping off.

"Hey Noah?" Cody said, drawing Noah's attention away from the water below and to the boy standing before him. "If, uh. If we don't make it out of this, just know you're the coolest dude I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." Noah smiled a genuine smile, revealing the gap in his teeth yet again.

"I could say the same thing about you." The two boys nodded at each other as they glanced back down at the dark blue water below, then back at the ape behind them. Together, they took a leap off the edge of the cliff, holding onto each other as they dove head-first into Lake Wawanakwa, Ness quickly burying himself deep inside Noah's jacket yet again as they did so.

Sasquatchanakwa weighed up his options, diving after the two into unknown territory, or go back home and sleep. The latter was exactly what he did. Noah and Cody resurfaced, drenching wet and ice cold, but very much alive. Cody pulled his beanie up so he could see properly and Noah readjusted his glasses which, somehow, had managed to stay on his face.

The two boys stared at each other for a while, treading the water softly so as to stay afloat, the adrenaline coursing through their veins finally dying down. Cody let out a chuckle at first, although he didn't know why, before it quickly devolved into full-blown laughter. Noah began to laugh along as Cody lunged forward, trapping his friend in a warm embrace as they continued to kick at the water.

When Cody finally pulled away, his arms still resting on the other teen's shoulders, the clouds parted, allowing the moonlight to highlight all the things he felt made Noah, Noah. At that moment, Cody had never felt a stronger urge to kiss someone, and he had begun to lean in, with Noah doing the same exact thing, when Harold and Beth came out of the woods, running into the beach.

"There you guys are!" She cried, Timmy attached to her leg with an iron grip, rendering her unable to go in and fish her two friends out. Cody and Noah jumped apart, more out of fear of the sudden noise than embarrassment, and Harold began to wade into the lake to drag them out. "We've been looking all over for you. The challenge ended like, two hours ago!"

Cody and Noah both looked at each other in shock. How much time had they spent out there searching for Sasquatchanakwa? Harold grabbed the pair by their forearms, dragging them back to shore as best as he could with his limited strength. "We were beginning to think you were dead, gosh."

"But anyway! Did you find out anything about Sasquatchanakwa? Or did you find something else?" Beth wiggled her eyebrows up and down as if to imply something suggestive, causing Harold to roll his eyes, whilst Noah and Cody seemed not to notice.

"Well... we certainly found something out about Sasquatchanakwa." Noah said, causing Cody to let out a small laugh.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"Surely that wasn't just a one-sided thing, right? The leaning in for a kiss?" Cody said, ringing out his beanie of any leftover lake water. "Because it didn't feel like it. But I've felt a certain way about a lot of things. Like how I felt that whole cool guy act would make me popular back in eighth grade." Cody shuddered at the memory.

"I know for a fact that Noah and Cody were about to kiss in the lake! I just came in at the wrong time." Beth groaned, a notepad in her hand and a pen in the other. "I've just got to figure out how to recreate that environment again, except at the same time it can't be too obvious." The nerd drew something out on her notepad, before ripping the paper out, scrunching it up, and throwing it onto a small pile she'd made next to the toilet.

"I can admire Beth's ambition and all, but in a way, she's kinda preventing Noah and Cody from doing what she wants them to do." Harold sighed as he played with the pile of scrap paper beside him. "Maybe she should just... let them do their own thing. That might get their relationship moving." Harold put a palm to his face as he grumbled. "I'm starting to sound just like her, gosh."

**Confessionals** **End**

Trent lay awake on his bunk, staring at the ceiling. He was trying to figure out what happened, who would've wanted to sabotage him, and why. Thoughts clouded his mind on all the possibilities and he kept tossing and turning in his bed, waking Ezekiel up in the bunk below.

"Hey, Trent," Ezekiel murmured, his voice groggy with sleep. It was pitch black outside, and clearly anything but the time to be lying awake thinking about the challenge. "Can you quiet down a bit? I need to sleep, eh."

"Sorry, Zeke," Trent whispered, going back onto his back, beginning to fidget with his hands. He heard the ruffle of sheets down below, as Ezekiel shifted to get into a better sleeping position. The cabin was silent for a bit, before Ezekiel let out a sigh.

"I know I'm not the best at comforting people, eh. Still not used to it. But whatever's wrong is clearly keeping you awake, eh." Ezekiel popped his head out from the side of the bunk, looking up at his friend.

Trent sighed and leaned over the railing. "I'm just kinda wondering about the talent show. That book... Gwen's diary, it wasn't what Lindsay gave me to work with."

Ezekiel let out a low hum as he thought over what Trent said. "Yeah, reading something like a diary isn't a very you thing to do, eh. But you said it was Gwen's diary?" Trent nodded, and Ezekiel let out another hum. "You don't think she had anything to do with it, do you?"

"But why would she? I mean, it's not like she... was already kind of... mad at me..." Trent thought about all the glares shot in his direction by the girl in question, and let out a frustrated sigh. "But she was and, ugh, you don't think she's trying to get the rest of the team to try and vote me off, do you?" Ezekiel shrugged. "Because she won't! I'm in this game now, and I'm in it to win it!"

"That's the spirit, eh! Just try and keep it down, you don't want to wake up the others." Ezekiel whispered, as a few of the Gopher boys stirred in their sleep. Trent gave Ezekiel a small smile before leaning back onto his bed, as Ezekiel did the same. The two eventually drifted off to sleep, the conspiracy still present in their thoughts.


	6. The Sucky Outdoors

All the campers had gathered at the bonfire pit. Gwen and Trent were giving each other heated glares, whilst Noah and Cody had wrapped themselves up in a blanket together, still shaking after their chilly dive into the lake the night before. "Campers, today's challenge will test your outdoor survival skills!" Chris said, his hands on his hips as he looked over the crowd in front of him.

Noah and Cody glanced at each other, their teeth instantly ceasing their chattering as they instantly became more fearful of what awaited them. "I'm not gonna lie to you; some of you may not come back alive." Chris continued to grin as the other campers also began to grow anxious, a few of them letting out gasps of shock. "Just joking! All you have to do is spend one night in the woods.

"Everything you need will be at your campsite in the forest, you just have to find it." An intern tossed Chris a two backpacks, filled with things like maps and compasses to guide the campers on their journey. The host tossed a green backpack to Trent, and a red one to Duncan. "Oh, and watch out for bears! Lost a few interns in pre-production." Chris chuckled a bit, causing a few campers to get uneasy.

A few campers stood up, awaiting Chris to get their introduction to the challenge over and done with. "The first team to make it back to the cabins wins invincibility!" Chris brought out his trusty air horn and pressed down on it, letting out an annoyingly loud sound. "Go!"

**Confessionals** **Start**

"There is no way Chris didn't have some security cameras out in the woods. He must've seen Cody and I out there, and now he's making us camp out all night in the cold whilst we're at risk of dying from hypothermia?" Noah shivered, causing Ness to fall out of his jacket. The poor bunny was also freezing cold, and quickly hopped back in. "And don't even get me started on how we're going to stay in the disgusting, mucky, dirty outdoors. The cabins were enough as it was!"

Duncan flipped his switchblade around in his hands, eyeing it with a miffed look on his face. "I've never told anyone this, and I sure as hell no the people that matter won't be watching this shitty show, but I have a fear of the dark. Not a big one, but it's there. So this challenge? Yeah, I ain't looking forward to it."

**Confessionals** **End**

LeShawna looked out to the woods, a concerned look on her face. "I just got my nails done, I am not ready to have them ruined again if we end up having an encounter of the big, brown and furry kind."

Duncan snarled as he walked past, putting the backpack onto his back as he headed off, a few other Bass members trailing behind him. "Well, it's either your nails or your life, and I can't say I'll miss either of those things when Yogi Bear decides he's hungry for something more than a picnic." LeShawna glared at him before joining the rest of her group, clearly not pleased with the delinquent's comment.

Ness hopped out of Noah's jacket, shivering intensely. Noah sighed and picked up the bunny in one arm and stood up, causing Cody to get up as well. He walked over to Chris, and he could practically feel Cody's confused stare, even if he was keeping his eyes on Ness.

"Chris, can I leave Ness here? I don't think they'd last very long in their current condition out in the woods." Noah asked as they reached the host. Surprisingly, a look of compassion seemed to appear in Chris' eyes for a second as he looked at the freezing cold rabbit, but it was quickly hidden as he picked the poor thing up under the arms as if it were a misbehaving puppy.

"I'll leave it with Chef. Now you need to head off, I'm not sure your team would be all too happy with you two ditching them because of some rabbit." Chris advised. Noah and Cody nodded their heads quickly, readjusting the blanket around their shoulders before dashing off into the forest, trying to catch up with whoever was at the back.

•・・・•・・・•

The Gophers had managed to find a clear path that led directly to their campsite. It was longer than some of the alternatives, but with less plant life they were at least less likely to encounter any animal life. Trent, who was at the front of the group with Ezekiel, spotted Gwen out of the corner of his eye. Quickly, he let the backpack slip off his shoulders and handed it to his friend, before slowing down to confront her.

"Gwen." There was a firm and angry tone in Trent's voice, shocking Gwen a little. "I need to talk to you about the incident yesterday. Preferably alone." Trent looked up at Geoff, who was walking beside Gwen close enough that their hands were almost touching. The two exchanged looks of hatred, until Gwen scoffed.

"What is there to talk about? You read- no, even worse, you sang a song using shit from my diary. Live! On stage! In front of everyone!" She yelled, a fire in her eyes burning, fueled by nothing aside from pure and utter hatred. "Besides, anything you can say to me, you can say to the rest of the team too!"

A few of the other Gophers had stopped walking and had formed a small circle around the fighting duo, intrigued as to what was going on. "All I was going to ask was why you deliberately sabotaged the performance! Don't act like you haven't been shooting me glares since I got here!" Trent yelled back, his expression beginning to match that of his opponent's.

"Why on earth do you think I would give you my personal diary to read out?" Gwen took a step closer, as if preparing to get physical.

"Maybe because you wanted to get the rest of the team to vote me off!" Trent edged closer in retaliation, "All I know is that one moment I had a regular book about Cinderella or whatever, and the next I've got your diary! Pretty fishy, don't you think?"

"Yeah- just like your story! I wasn't born yesterday!" Gwen snarled as she stepped close enough to crush some of Trent's toes beneath her foot, causing the boy to let out a cry of pain. He raised a fist to hit her in retaliation, but was quickly pulled away by Ezekiel, as Gwen was held back by Noah and Heather.

The two continued to yell each other, occasionally throwing in a swear word, until they were at the opposite ends of their group. Noah let go of Gwen, who had steam practically coming out of her ears, and walked back over to Cody so they could continue their conversation. Heather, on the other hand, had walked back over to Lindsay.

The raven-haired girl had her head down, but if she looked up, anyone would be able to see the negative expression on her face replacing her usually cheerful demeanour. She was, to say the least, not pleased, knowing that she had contributed to the rift forming between her own team, even if it wasn't without her own knowledge.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I'm not happy about what Lindsay did," Heather said, holding her knees up to her chest, "but what's done is done I guess. All I can do is feel guilty about it." She sighed, resting her head on her legs. Just as she had managed to relax, there was a knock on the confessional door.

"Heather, honey, I know we all have things to say, but you've been in there for thirty minutes." Noah's voice could be heard from behind the door, causing Heather to get up quickly as she let out a string of apologies.

**Confessionals** **End**

The Bass were having a much less stressful time on their trip. Fortunately for them, they had been gifted a bigger map, and knew that they were actually quite close to the Gophers' trail. Unfortunately, however, they had also been given the dodgiest compass Beth had seen, let alone had to use to steer a group of seven sixteen-year-olds to a campsite.

The only people who seemed to actually care about the challenge, though, were Beth, Harold, and DJ. After realising the compass pointed anywhere but North, Duncan had been quick to hand the responsibility of leader over to someone who he thought might actually know what they're doing, based on how much they bragged about their orienteering skills off camera. Beth was not very pleased, to say the least.

LeShawna was filing her nails very delicately, occasionally almost hitting a tree or bush in the process because she was so focused. Tyler had taken a peak at the map, realised they were close to the Gophers and, by extension, Lindsay, and had run off in god knows what direction, and Katie was busy making tools out of sticks and stones.

Duncan had begun to edge away from the path they were walking on and toward where they thought the Gophers were, which no one would have noticed if it weren't for Timmy the raccoon, who had tugged on Beth's pant leg when they realised that the punk had begun to walk off.

"Where are you going?" She asked, causing Duncan to stop. He stared at her, a deer caught in the headlights, before he smirked and put his hands up.

"Look, Four Eyes, I'm just gonna go see the other team. You never know, they might actually know we're here and be planning a way to get us out." Beth looked back down at the map she held in her hands, then between Harold and DJ, before sighing and turning back to Duncan.

"Fine. You can go, but if you get lost, you'll be finding your own way back." The delinquent ran off to where he thought the Gophers were, as Beth huffed and continued walking, Timmy gripping her leg firmly, causing her to hobble instead of walk properly.

Duncan cut at the flora in his way, following a relatively straight path. He could hear voices, not from his own team, as they all seemed to forget they were one, but instead of the opposition. He was pretty certain Beth knew he was lying as to why he wanted to find them, but it's not like it mattered. The only person who maybe liked him on the Bass was DJ, and that's because Duncan was fairly certain the big guy couldn't actually feel hate.

Suddenly, Duncan was knocked flat onto his back, something- no, someone, lying on their side on top of him. "Woah! I'm super sorry dude!" Tyler. Somehow he'd managed not to get eaten by wolves yet.

"It's okay, don't worry about it." Duncan grumbled, pushing the jock off of himself and sitting upright, brushing himself off. Tyler stood up and offered his teammate a hand, which he rejected by getting up on his own. They both already knew where the other was going, so they figured there was no point in asking as they tried to find the other path, the voices of the Gophers having become more faint.

•・・・•・・・•

Gwen was shuffling along the ground at the back of the group, the tips of her shoes turning brown from the dirt, as Geoff held an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. Trent glanced back at the pair, crossing his arms as he let out a low growl.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ezekiel said, causing Trent to turn away from the other two. The teen almost instantly went from angry to melancholy. After a few more seconds of silence, Trent finally spoke.

"It's Gwen, she just... ugh. What if she's trying to get the rest of the team to take her side? Then if we lose, they'd all... vote me off..." Ezekiel gave his friend a pat on the back as he sighed. They walked a bit further, before Trent talked once more. "Lindsay would know though. She was the one that gave me the original book, she knows I didn't take Gwen's diary."

A bright look appeared on Ezekiel's face as Trent began to lighten up. "Yeah, that's right! And she's pretty close with Heather, eh? That means she's sure to believe her!" The farm boy smiled, clearly thankful that the negative air had lifted. "That's four people, including you and me, eh! It's practically split in half!"

Now in a much better mood, the two continued to walk along the path, following the map and the compass to make sure they didn't go off track. There was a rustling noise in the bushes nearby, catching the boy's attention. They both jumped, getting ready to fight in case some potentially dangerous animal jumped out at them.

"No need to act so jumpy, jeez!" Duncan stepped out of the brush, his mohawk messed up from the twigs and sticking out at different angles. Ezekiel sighed in relief and chuckled a little out of embarrassment, whilst Trent rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Is your team annoyed with you already?" Trent asked, earning a light punch on the shoulder from his friend.

"Nah, they were just too boring. They don't do anything, no one's talking to each other." Duncan sighed dramatically, as if the lack of excitement was killing him slowly. "It makes my job of annoying everyone more difficult."

"Well I don't know why you came here, eh. Our group's chaotic enough on its own, I'm not sure what you'd be able to add." Duncan glanced back at the rest of the Gophers. Tyler had managed to find Lindsay, and they were making out by a tree, much to his discomfort. The rest of the group, sans Heather, were either shooting occasional glares at Trent and Ezekiel or still shivering from the cold.

"What did you do, dude? I need to know your secrets." Duncan chuckled. It was Trent's turn to sigh as he put his hands through his hair, clearly not a fan of the subject.

"I didn't do anything. Remember the talent show yesterday?" A look of realisation dawned on Duncan's face, and his mouth formed a little 'o' shape. "Zeke and I are pretty sure Gwen sabotaged the performance. She's hated me since day one, and all I know is that one moment I had some fairy tales to sing about, and the next it's about Gwen's crush."

"You mind telling me who it is?" Duncan teased, earning a proper punch from Trent. "Ah, okay. Asking for too much. Gotcha." As the punk rubbed his arm in pain, the group of three continued to walk down the path, talking and joking around the whole way.

Noah and Cody, however, were not having a great time at all. Any subtle change in the way the wind blew was enough to make them shiver from the cold, even with the blanket covering them. "Come on, dude, you're wearing, like, three layers. How are you still cold?"

Noah sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. "They were all covered in freezing cold lake water last night, remember? Just because I wear one jacket, does not mean the rest of my clothes are instantly waterproof." They walked a bit further, before Cody tugged on his friend's jacket sleeve. "What is it now?"

"I'm freezing dude. Short sleeves aren't the best in Canadian weather." Cody said, although it did not answer Noah's question, much to the tan boy's annoyance.

"And?"

"And so I want you to give me your jacket."

Noah felt his face heat up, and was almost certain Cody was blushing too, although it could have just been blood rushing to his face to keep him warm. "Y-Yeah, sure." Noah took off his jacket, making sure not to move the blanket off his shoulders too much as he did so, before putting it around Cody.

"Thanks, dude." Cody looked down at the ground, his face bright red, whilst Noah looked at the scenery around them.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I wonder if I'm coming on too strong. After my uh... 'player' phase in eighth grade, I've been a little less then confident in my flirting skills, to say the least. But I really want Noah to like me!" Cody tapped his chin in thought, his free hand rubbing his arm in an attempt to keep himself warm. "He could still be straight though... damn..."

**Confessionals** **End**

Cody glanced up from the ground just in time to see a blueberry bush, covered in ripe berries. He stopped and pointed it out to Noah, who seemed to have missed the bush. "Hey, look! Decent food!" At the thought of something other than Chef's slop, Noah's ears perked up, and he looked in the direction Cody was pointing.

"Nice spotting, Cody." Noah said, as the two walked over to the bush. They let go of the blanket and began to pick the fruit from the bush, some of them being eaten almost straight away.

The whole time, Noah was smiling, and Cody couldn't help but notice the gap in his teeth showing once again. The brunette tried to think of something to say to fill the silence, without making things awkward. "Hey, uh... the gap in your teeth is pretty cute..." Cody resisted the urge to smack himself in the face and smudge blue everywhere.

Noah instantly closed his mouth, setting it back to its neutral form, and Cody thought he had said something wrong. He was about to apologise, when Noah spoke. "It's nice of you to say that. Even if it isn't the truth, it's nice." Cody stood up straighter, causing the blanket to fall off. However, at that moment, he couldn't care less about the cold.

"But it is the truth! At least, for me it is. You may not think you look good, but I think you do." Cody put a few more blueberries into his mouth, kicking at the ground a little with one foot. "If you dislike it so much, then why don't you get braces?"

Noah let out a little chuckle, as if what Cody had said was a joke. "Eight older siblings. My parents don't really have the money after giving others with worse dental problems than mine braces. I've gotten used to it though." Noah continued to pick at the blueberries, and so Cody picked up the blanket in his free hand and wrapped it around the two yet again, this time staying just a little closer to his friend.

Now that Duncan and Tyler had gone, the Bass had begun to do a better job at sticking together, although LeShawna was still not contributing much to the group effort. Katie had managed to finish off her makeshift weapons, making one for each member of her team. This meant she now was holding three spears, since Duncan and Tyler weren't present, but she didn't mind.

DJ had gotten distracted by Timmy along the way, and was now attempting to teach them sign language, which was going surprisingly well considering Timmy was a raccoon. "Hey DJ, what are you doing?" Harold asked, confused by all the signs.

"Teaching Timmy how to talk!" DJ answered, keeping his eyes on the raccoon. They managed to sign 'food', causing DJ to applaud the little animal. He reached into his pocket and grabbed out a packet of chips, before opening it and handing one of them to Timmy.

"Yeah, but... why?" Harold looked down at Timmy, who was signing 'food' excitedly over and over.

"I thought it would be interesting to see whether Timmy would be able to understand." DJ gave the raccoon in question another chip, and they calmed down. "It's a bit... difficult for them, to say the least, since they don't have hands like we do, but they're doing quite well!"

Beth was now a bit further in front with Katie by her side, LeShawna still trailing behind. Harold and DJ walked on quietly, with the occasional sound of DJ applauding Timmy's progress or the rustling noise his stolen bag of chips made filling what otherwise would have been silence.

•・・・•・・・•

"Hey, Homeschool." Ezekiel looked up from the line he had created in the ground with a stick. "You got your eye on anyone?" The shorter teen gave Duncan a confused look, causing the punk to sigh in annoyance. "I mean does anyone 'strike your fancy', as your folks might call it."

Ezekiel felt his face go red out of embarrassment, and also due to the question. "Well, uh... I guess so. Why does it matter, eh?"

"I'm bored, that's why. Pretty Boy is too busy trying to find the stupid campsite to interact with anything other than his map, so you're my second best option." Duncan smirked. "Don't think you can change the subject. Who is it?"

"Who is what, eh?"

"Don't play dumb with me! We were just talking about it!" Ezekiel sighed, knowing he'd be unable to avoid the subject any longer.

"Well, uh... Beth's pretty cute. I guess I like her, eh." Duncan raised an eyebrow, which did not go unnoticed by his friend. "You got something you wanna say?"

"No, nothing. Just didn't expect her to be your type, that's all. Or anyone's type, for that matter." The punk muttered the last part under his breath. Ezekiel did hear him, but decided not to say anything.

"What about you, eh? Do you like anyone?" Duncan shot Ezekiel a glare that he hoped would cause him to back down from the question, but the farm boy just stared right back at him.

"Well... I guess Lindsay's pretty hot. For some reason though, she likes Tyler, and I'm not going to get between a happy couple." Ezekiel was a little confused, to say the least.

"But you could totally have her! Sweep her off her feet, or whatever. You're a 'bad boy', eh! Girls love that sort of thing!" Ezekiel paused, before continuing. "At least, that's what Trent told me. And aren't bad boys, like, all about doing the bad thing?"

Duncan's face hardened and his fists clenched, and for a second Ezekiel thought he was about to receive a punch to the face. Instead, Duncan just let out a shaky sigh as he attempted to compose himself. "Look, I may be a delinquent, alright?" His voice was cracking, and Ezekiel swore that Duncan was on the verge of breaking down. "But I would never, and I mean never cheat on anyone, let alone knowingly be with someone who's already in a relationship."

Cautiously, Ezekiel rested a hand on Duncan's back, and when he didn't receive a negative reaction, began to move it in soft circles to comfort him. "Look... it's okay if you don't want to talk about it, eh. We can just drop the subject-"

"No. It's okay. I need to- to talk to someone about it. To vent my frustration, y'know?" Duncan took a deep breath, before finally looking at Ezekiel properly. The two stopped walking. "My sister, she, uh... she was in a relationship, about two years ago. The guy came from a good family, but mum and dad and I never really liked him. He was kind of an asshole.

"We told her she should end the relationship because he gave us these really bad vibes, like he was just waiting to break her heart, you know? And he did. She came home one night and found him making out with another girl and... and it broke her. They broke up, of course, I mean, who wouldn't after something like that happened, but she wasn't the same after that. She rarely smiled, and when she did, it felt forced.

"One day I came home. She hadn't had school that day- said she felt sick. Our parents always came home late, and so I called out for her. She wouldn't answer, so I went up to her room, and then that's when I... I saw her..." Tears began to roll down Duncan's face, and he wiped them away hurriedly, determined to continue the story. "I was so sure she was dead, but I called an ambulance anyway. I could never... never do that to someone."

Ezekiel was unsure what to do as he saw his friend, this big bad guy with multiple facial piercings and a criminal record, cry about his older sister. He began to think about what his mother would do when he cried when he was younger, and so he wrapped his arms around Duncan, much to the other's surprise. "What are you-" Ezekiel cut him off with a long, low 'shush', which seemed to work. Soon, the delinquent had stopped crying, and was pulling away from the hug.

The two kept walking, making sure not to talk about what had just happened by falling into silence. "Hey, uh, Homeschool?" Ezekiel looked up. "You tell anyone about this, anyone at all, and you're dead." Ezekiel gulped, before nodding his head rapidly.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I think Duncan forgot we're on a reality TV show, eh." Ezekiel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I'm not about to be the one to tell him everyone in Canada knows his secret now."

**Confessionals** **End**

Trent had stopped walking, and was now looking around frantically from the map, to the compass, and then to the forest around him. "This... doesn't make any sense." He walked a few steps forward, before stopping and looking around again.

"What doesn't make any sense, eh?" Ezekiel asked. Trent pointed at the map in his hands, then gestured around them.

"The campsite is meant to be right here! This is where the map ends!" Duncan gently took the map from Trent's hands and looked at it, then at the compass that Trent was still holding.

"Maybe we should just keep walking. It's not like the rest of your team seems to care all that much." Duncan said. Trent and Ezekiel gave each other worried glances, before looking back at the path behind them, only to find that the entirety of their team, as well as Tyler, were nowhere to be seen.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Trent groaned, covering his face with his hands as Duncan chuckled.

The Bass, however, were having much more luck. They had arrived at their campsite, and were digging through all the supplies they had been left with. "Hey, there's no food here." Katie said, kneeling down in front of the bags.

"Well I mean, it is a survival challenge. We probably have to get food for ourselves." LeShawna replied, rolling her eyes. She had taken a seat under a tree, right next to the bag containing the team's tent.

"Good thing I made these tools then, huh!" Katie cheered, holding up her three spears. "I'll go get us food, since like, I made these. I'm also like, super good at finding blueberries! They're Sadie and I's favourite berries!" The girl ran off into the woods, looking for any possible food source.

LeShawna kicked the tent over to Harold, Beth and DJ. "Get unpacking, dweebs." She continued to examine her nails, making sure there weren't any possible imperfections in the polish. Harold and Beth sent her unhappy glares, but DJ happily obliged as Timmy rested on a stump nearby.

It didn't take long for the tent to go up, thanks to the combined effort of the three, and soon Katie had made it back with six fish, two on each spear, and a small bundle of blueberries she had collected in a large leaf. "I hope this is like, an okay dinner. I've never really gone fishing before!" She giggled, putting the blueberries down on the ground and sticking the spears upright in the dirt. "It was like, super fun! I should totally go fishing with Sadie some time!"

"For someone who's never gone fishing before, you sure are good at it." DJ said, beginning to collect some sticks to make a campfire. He managed to make a large pile on the ground, a good distance away from the team's tent. Harold then used his glasses to direct some of the sun's light onto the pile, causing it to set alight. Katie grabbed one of the spears and removed the head, before shoving the fish onto the shaft and holding it up above the fire.

"I hope Duncan and Tyler are okay." Katie spun the stick around so that the fish would cook evenly, occasionally bringing it in to check. "I don't know what I'd do if something bad, like, happened to them."

"Why? Hate to break it to you, Tweedledee, but they don't seem to really care about whether we win or not, let alone whether we're okay." LeShawna said, grabbing a few of the blueberries Katie had picked and popping them into her mouth.

DJ finally gave into his anger, and glared at LeShawna. Admittedly, he had never felt mad enough at anyone to glare at them before, and so it ended up looking more like a disappointed stare. "I, for one, think it's perfectly fine that Katie is worried. They are still our teammates, whether they participate in this challenge or not. I'd feel pretty bad if I was Duncan or Tyler and found out my team didn't care about me."

LeShawna muttered something under her breath about how much she wished she had been placed onto a team of people who actually cared about winning, but Katie and DJ didn't hear her. "Thanks for backing me up, DJ." Katie whispered, taking the first two fish off the flame. DJ gave her a warm smile, before getting the next two fish ready for cooking.

•・・・•・・・•

Gwen and Geoff had stopped walking to take a rest somewhere along the path without telling the rest of the group, and were now very, very lost. "Do you think we could just... camp out here?" Gwen asked, after she and Geoff passed the same mushroom-shaped tree for the third time. "I mean, it's not like Chris said we had to go to the campsite for the challenge to be valid, just that our team had to get back first."

Geoff shrugged, adjusting his hat. "I guess we could. Do you know how to build a shelter?" Gwen pursed her lips as she shook her head. "Great! 'Cause neither do I." The party boy let out a nervous chuckle as he began to collect the largest sticks he could find.

"I'll grab some leaves to cover up any holes." Gwen said, as Geoff began to place the sticks up against the mushroom tree. Once they were finished building, the sun had begun to set, and rain had begun to come down from the sky. The duo crawled into the shelter they had made, sitting as close as they could to keep warm.

Gwen rested her head on Geoff's shoulder, her eyes darting around nervously as she gripped onto his arm so tight that her knuckles turned white. Geoff pulled his hat down over his face in an attempt to block out any light that seemed through the gaps in the leaves.

"H-Hey, Geoff?" Gwen stuttered, pulling her leg up to her chest to keep it dry. Geoff let out a low noise to show he was listening. "Thanks for uh, sticking around. I-I'm not the greatest with tight spaces." The red-haired girl chuckled, her nervousness coming through. Geoff pulled his hat back up to the top of his head and gave her a small smile.

The crunching of leaves and twigs came from outside, coupled with an occasional 'ow' or 'sorry'. Geoff took a peek outside of the shelter, and saw Noah and Cody stumbling in the dark, their blanket held as a cover over their heads as they carried a small bundle of berries in one of Noah's napkins.

Noah looked down at his shoes in disgust, shaking them a little in attempt to get the mud and leaves to come off. "I. Hate. Chris." He grunted, before scraping it off on a tree root nearby.

Cody looked around, barely managing to spot Gwen and Geoff's shelter in the low light. "It's our lucky day! A shelter!" That was when he saw Geoff's head poking out of it. "With, uh, roommates."

"You dudes look like you could use somewhere dry to sleep." Geoff said, gesturing for Noah and Cody to come in. Cody happily obliged, but Noah was more hesitant.

"My shoes are already covered in muck, you can't expect me to get even more dirty." The tan boy snarled, looking down at the dirty shelter in disgust. Cody gave him a pleading look, as he held the blanket closer to his head, trying to make up for the warmth he had lost without his friend beside him. "I-I... Ugh, fine. I guess I can stay in there."

The rain began to fall even heavier than before as soon as Noah ducked down into the entrance. The group had very clearly underestimated how much room there was, and to keep relatively dry, they had to climb on top of each other. This wouldn't be much of an issue for Noah, as he wouldn't have to sit on the dirt, if it weren't for the fact he was practically sitting in Cody's lap. Both boys felt their faces flush red as they refused to look at one another.

Gwen was resting with her head buried into Geoff's shoulder, her legs tangled up with his in an attempt to save space, as she tried to forget just how tiny the shelter was. Geoff gently pet her hair, comforting her as she began to fall asleep, the rest of the group following soon after.

Lindsay and Tyler were having less luck in finding a dry place to rest than the others. After their make out session, Lindsay had attempted to talk strategy with her sort-of boyfriend, but he had been reduced to a bumbling, blushing mess, much to her annoyance. Her clothes were soaked, and her hair dripping wet, and, what she thought to be worst of all, her sandals were making a disgusting 'squelch' sound whenever she walked.

Needless to say, Lindsay was not very happy.

Multiple times Tyler had attempted to get back to the Bass, as they had managed to stick to the path, but Lindsay had managed to get him to stay by putting on a pout and using her puppy eyes, before going on about how dangerous the woods were and how she needed him to protect her. By the time they had reached the clearing where the Gophers' campsite was, the sky had turned a dark purple, and the rain was beginning to lessen.

Duncan was sitting outside the tent, clearly meant to be a lookout, but was fast asleep. The fire was burning with a pathetically small flame, although it did still emit enough heat that the punk wasn't curled into a tight ball in his sleep to keep warm. Lindsay walked over and kicked him with the heel of her sandal, startling him.

"W-What? No, Trent, I-" Duncan looked up, and his shocked look turned into one of annoyance. "Oh. It's you. Thought you got eaten by wolves or something." He sighed, as if disappointed that that hadn't been the case, causing Lindsay to let out a small growl of anger.

"And just what exactly are you doing here?" The blonde asked, wiping a wet lock of hair from her eyes.

"What's it look like, princess? I'm the lookout." Duncan rolled his eyes, grabbing a stick from nearby and using it to stoke the fire. "Now are you going to get your butt inside this tent, or will you be taking a long, fully-clothed shower?"

Lindsay scoffed, grabbing Tyler by the hand and pulling him inside. In doing so, she caused the flap on the tent to make a loud rustling noise, waking up Trent and Ezekiel. They both were very clearly annoyed for about one or two seconds, before realising that one of their teammates hadn't become food for the animals, causing them to smile happily instead. Ezekiel opened his mouth to speak, but Lindsay shot him a glare, and he instantly backed down.

"If anyone talks, I will not hesitate to get Tyler here to throw them out of this tent. Understand?" Trent and Ezekiel both nodded, exchanging nervous glances as they shuffled a bit to go back to sleep.

DJ, Harold, Beth, Katie, and LeShawna had managed to finish off their dinners and fit comfortably inside their tent without an issue. The majority of them were fast asleep, but LeShawna was still wide awake. She sat up, looking at the others to make sure they weren't able to see her, before standing.

The rain stopped, but the air was still humid and it could start again at any time. LeShawna walked off towards the trees, huffing in annoyance. "I can't believe I need to pee now of all times..." There was a squeaking noise from somewhere nearby, and the next thing the girl knew, a bat had flown straight into her face.

LeShawna let out a scream as she attempted to get the bat off, its wings messing up her hair as she stumbled around the campsite. The rest of the Bass woke up, and upon seeing her silhouette cast onto the tent, let out screams of fear.

Finally, the bat flew off, just in time for LeShawna to get one of the still hot coals from the fire lodged into her shoe. She let out another scream, this time out of pain, and quickly pulled it out. Unfortunately for the team, however, she had accidentally thrown it in the direction of the tent.

"Fire! Fire!" DJ yelled, grabbing Katie, Beth, and Harold and quickly dragging them out of the tent, as the coal set it alight. Within mere seconds, what had once been a comfortable abode was now ashes on the ground.

DJ let out a sigh as he let his friends drop to the ground, causing them to let out little 'oof's and 'ow's. LeShawna quickly rushed off to the woods so she wouldn't be seen, not wanting to be associated with the mess she'd caused.

"Well... this is okay. Everyone's here, it's not like it's still-" Katie began as she crawled out of the bottom of the pile, looking at what remained of their campsite. There was a crack of thunder, followed shortly after by a lightning strike, and suddenly the rain had come back at full force. "-raining."

After LeShawna relieved herself, she came back, and faked a shocked reaction in an attempt to make herself seem as innocent as possible. "What happened?" She asked, a hand above her head to shield herself from the storm.

"We don't know, but everyone's safe, and that's all that matters." DJ looked around for something to cover the group, settling on a giant curved leaf. He gathered the Bass together and they all huddled under the leaf, desperate to stay dry as their fire finally sizzled out.

•・・・•・・・•

Duncan groaned as his stomach let out a low rumble, waking him up. The sun was directly in his eyes, causing him to squint as he put his hand up above his eyes to cast shade. "About time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty." Trent smirked as Duncan began to stand up, hoisting one of the thin foam mattresses up onto his shoulder.

Ezekiel had just finished packing the tent up, and was now pushing it into a backpack he had found whilst unpacking the night before, whilst Lindsay and Tyler were already heading back to Camp Wawanakwa, Tyler carrying the majority of the team's supplies.

"Yeah, well, after spending a whole night awake looking out for you guys, I kinda needed some rest." Duncan grumbled, causing his friend to let out a laugh.

Further down the trail, Gwen had woken up, in the exact same position as she had fallen asleep in. Seeing as Geoff was still asleep, she decided to take a chance, and kissed him softly on the cheek.

The blonde boy stirred a little, causing Gwen to jump back. She crawled over Noah and Cody to exit the shelter, before standing up and stretching, letting out a yawn as she did so. Geoff came out soon after, his cowboy hat on backwards and his hair sticking out awkwardly underneath it.

"Should we wake them up?" He asked, gesturing at Noah and Cody who were still very, very asleep with his foot. Gwen looked down at them, spitting into her hand and smoothing down her hair.

"You can try. If they don't we'll just carry them." Geoff let out a light laugh at her response, making Gwen blush ever so slightly. Regardless, the party boy knelt down and shook Cody a little, causing him to grumble in his sleep.

He opened one of his eyes, not too happy about being woken up. "What is it, Geoff?" He asked, his voice groggy as he wiped the sleep from his eyes as best as he could with Noah still asleep on top of him.

"We gotta go, dude. Head back to camp, y'know?" Geoff whispered, standing up again and walking off as Cody seemed to finally understand the situation.

"Oh, shoot." He muttered, quickly shaking Noah awake. "Hey, hey we gotta go." Cody said, softly. Noah woke up with a start, quickly cleaning his glasses before putting them back on his face.

"What's the time?" The prep asked, exiting the shelter with a faint blush on his cheeks. Geoff looked up at the sky, and seeing that the sun was still low enough in the sky for it to be slightly orange, held up seven fingers. "Then we should have plenty of time. Let's walk."

Together, the group of four began to look for the path that would lead them back to the cabins. It was a lot closer than any of them had thought, but the lack of light last night probably made it harder for any of them to notice. Gwen and Noah chatted together, finding a surprising amount of common interests in one another that had a large amount to do with their interests in literature, whilst Cody and Geoff trailed behind in relative silence.

Back at the Bass campsite, everyone was only just beginning to wake up, every limb in their body sore from their less than comfortable sleep last night. DJ's arm was so sore in the shoulder that he could barely lift it without a sharp pain going through it.

The sun was now at its highest point, and the team was panicking. They didn't bother to pack their things properly; instead, they just shoved everything together and began running off down the path, worried that the Gophers had already made it there first.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"I know for a fact that if I confess that I was responsible for the tent burning down, I'll be going home." LeShawna said, one leg over the other as she leaned back. "The solution to issue is simple. Pin the blame on someone else."

**Confessionals** **End**

LeShawna pulled up beside Katie as they ran, a fake worried look on her face. "Katie, can I talk to you?" She asked. Although Katie was at first suspicious, she agreed. "I think I know who set the tent on fire last night."

Katie let out a loud gasp, before covering her mouth, although her eyes managed to communicate just how shocked she was. "Who is it?" Her voice was muffled, but her curiosity was clear.

"Now, don't tell DJ, Beth, or Harold this," LeShawna said, earning a nod from Katie, "but last night, I went to go pee, and I saw Harold exit the tent. I didn't manage to see what exactly he was doing, but the next thing I know, the tent is on fire and he's nowhere to be seen."

Katie looked at the group ahead of them nervously, before looking back at LeShawna. "Are you sure?" LeShawna nodded her head quickly in an attempt to communicate just how sure she was of herself. "That's like, a super mean thing of Harold to do. Does that mean we should vote for him if we come back last?"

"Oh, definitely. Who knows what he might try to do next." LeShawna wrapped an arm around Katie's shoulders, pulling her into an awkward sideways hug as they continued to run. "But don't worry girl, I've got your back." Katie looked up at who she now thought of as a friend, giving her a grateful smile.

•・・・•・・・•

"Oh my god, I can't believe we made it back first." Gwen said as she walked to the common area, spinning around slowly as she did so to scope out her surroundings. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually glad to be back at camp."

"You and me both, honey." Noah agreed, although he didn't waste any time in the open area, heading straight for the dining hall. Cody collapsed onto the grass as soon as he arrived, messing up his beanie in the process, whilst Geoff joined Gwen in celebration.

"Not so fast, Gopherinos!" Chris said, walking out of the dining hall with Noah behind him, Ness resting comfortably in his arms. "You seem to be missing a few of your teammates! Can't win unless you're all here."

Gwen let out a loud groan of annoyance just as DJ, Beth, Harold, Katie, and LeShawna arrived, with Timmy hopping along behind. "Then there's hope for us yet!" Beth called out, earning cheers from her teammates.

Just as she said this, there was the tapping of footsteps hitting dirt as Trent, Duncan, and Ezekiel arrived at the common area. Lindsay and Tyler were off in the distance, just coming out of the woods, when it quickly dawned on them they were the final member of their teams to make it back and, because of this, one of them was going to win it for their team.

Tyler was quick to run forward, although Lindsay was having more difficulty. She knew for a fact she wouldn't be able to outrun him, and so she pretended to trip and fall, letting out a long whine. "Ah, Tyler! Help me!" She cried, gaining his attention.

When Tyler saw what happened, he instantly went from determined to win to concerned for Lindsay. He walked over and helped her up, holding one arm around his shoulder as he held the other at her waist. Together, they walked over to the open area, Lindsay pushing off of Tyler to hop over and _technically _make it there first.

"And the Gophers win by a hair!" Chris declared, as Tyler rushed over to Lindsay to help her walk. The Bass let out groans of annoyance, as the jock rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

**Confessionals Start**

"This couldn't be more perfect. All I need to do is get Duncan and Tyler to vote for Harold, and then it's bye-bye, nerd!" LeShawna cackled, throwing her head back as she did so.

**Confessionals End**

•・・・•・・・•

"What happened, Killer Bass?" Chris asked as he looked over the losing team, the plate in his hand holding six marshmallows. "You guys actually managed to get everyone to a campsite, whether it be your own or the Gophers. You even had enough time to cook dinner! How did you lose?!"

Chris sighed, grabbing one of the marshmallows and squishing it between his index and his thumb. "Oh well. It doesn't matter now. I know you're all tired after what happened, so I'll make this quick. When I call out your name, I'll throw you a marshmallow, and you are safe.

"Katie, DJ, Beth, LeShawna, and Duncan." Each of the five happily caught their marshmallows, although DJ had accidentally held up his bad arm, causing him to wince in pain. "Harold, Tyler. You're both in tonight's final two."

Harold looked up at the host in confusion. "Why me? I didn't do anything wrong, gosh!"

Duncan scoffed. "Yeah, right. We know what you did, LeShawna told us!" He said, through a mouthful of gooey goodness.

"Look, dude, I never thought I'd say this, but I feel bad for you." Chris threw the final marshmallow at Tyler, who let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding as the treat landed in his lap. "Harold, you'll be boarding the Boat of Losers."

Harold stood up, his jaw wide open in shock as he walked down to the dock. Beth and DJ followed after him, almost as surprised as he was about his elimination. The nerd had still not closed his mouth as he boarded the boat, luggage in hand, as his friends waved him.

As Beth and DJ made their way back to the cabins, their shock gave way to suspicion over that night's events. "Something about this doesn't feel right." Beth said, rocking Timmy back and forth in her arms to get them to fall asleep.

"I agree. There's no way everyone would vote for Harold when he helped us win the last challenge." The two of them shared looks of understanding as they knew what to do next.

**Confessionals Start**

"Now that Harold's gone, I've got a new mystery to solve. Sasquatchanakwa will have to wait, because Operation Avenge Harold is now in action." Beth said, a determined look on her face.

**Confessionals End**

Lindsay exited the Bass' shower, a towel wrapped around her hair as she pulled one of her sandals on properly. "Ugh, I can't thank you enough, LeShawna." She muttered, walking over to her friend. "I'm not sure what I would've done if one of my alliance members were kicked out _this _early."

"It's nothing, girlfriend. I was just doin' what friends do." LeShawna refused to mention that what she had done was to save her own skin, not Tyler's, but it didn't matter all that much to her. "You gonna thank me for the shower too?"

Lindsay rolled her eyes as she smiled. "I heard Katie's getting better at playing the game. You know what that means?"

"'Course I do. Trust me, she's next to go as soon as possible." The two girls were now stood in front of the girl's side of the Bass cabin.

"Great. Then we'll work on my team, correct?" LeShawna nodded as they went their separate ways, waving cheerily at each other as if they weren't just planning a way to bring everyone in the competition to their knees.


	7. Phobia Factor

A few days after the disastrous night out camping, all the contestants had gathered for breakfast in the dining hall. Cody was playing around with a gummy worm he had gotten from the tuck shop he and the other Gophers had visited as a reward for winning the previous challenge, since Chef wasn't around to force-feed him the 'food' he had prepared for them.

He breathed in, accidentally inhaling the gummy in the process, and quickly coughed it back up, sending it flying across the room and landing on the Bass' dining table. DJ let out a loud scream as it landed right in front of him.

"Snake! There's a snake!" He yelled, diving under the table. Unfortunately, he was far too big to fit, and ended up sending the thing over onto it's side, almost squashing Beth as she struggled to get out of the way in time.

Duncan picked the pink sugary snack and held it up for all to see. "Chill, dude. It's just a gummy worm." He then proceeded to fling it into the kitchen, wiping his hands on his shirt with a disgusted look on his face.

"Sorry for tripping, snakes just freak me out." DJ muttered, crawling out from behind the table, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"I feel you. Chickens give me the creeps, dude." Tyler said, patting his teammate on the back reassuringly.

"You're afraid of _chickens_?" Gwen asked, trying to contain a laugh.

Duncan, however, was not so gracious in his reaction. "Chickens? That's- that's really lame man."

**Confessionals Start**

"The next thing I know, everyone is having this big old share-fest over our slop." Gwen sat with one leg over the other, a bored look on her face. "Beth went on for a little too long about how her mortal fear is being covered in bugs, Ezekiel talked about his fear of flying, and I haven't even gotten to the weird stuff!"

**Confessionals End**

"What's my worst fear?" Gwen tapped at her chin in thought. "I guess being buried alive."

"Mine would have to be walking through a minefield. In _heels_." Lindsay shuddered at the thought.

"Hail's pretty scary, man. It's like- small, but deadly." Geoff said.

Katie toyed with a lock of her hair, anxiously. "Bad haircuts."

Lindsay's eyes widened as she brought a hand to her own hair. "Okay yeah, I change my fear. A bad haircut is way worse."

LeShawna sent her friend a confused look, but shrugged it off. "Spiders are pretty creepy, with all their hair and legs and eyes and just..." The girl let out a noise of disgust.

"I know this is gonna sound kind of weird, but like, sumo wrestlers," Heather mumbled, chewing her lip. "Just, from their angry faces to their diets, everything about them freaks me out."

Cody swung his legs back and forth as he shoved another handful of gummy worms into his mouth. "Having to defuse a time bomb under pressure."

Noah gave him a weird look. "A little specific, but okay." The tan boy shrugged, before putting one hand under his head to hold it up. "I don't really have any fears." Cody stifled a laugh, thinking back to how Noah seemed to have a particular hatred for one of the elements of the outdoors.

"Yeah, I call bull." Duncan smirked, crossing his arms. Noah shot him a glare as he sat up straighter, as if doing so would make him seem more sure of himself.

"Oh, really? Well then, would you mind sharing your phobia with us?" Noah asked, causing the punk's eyes to widen and the smirk to leave his face. He looked from camper to camper, only to find them all staring at him in anticipation.

Duncan looked down to the ground, kicking at it lightly with his shoe. He didn't need to see the other campers faces to know that they were all staring at him, awaiting his answer. "C-Céline Dion music store standees." He mumbled, his face turning red from embarrassment.

Cody burst out laughing, his smile so big his eyes partially closed in the process. "Ex-squeeze me? I didn't quite get that!" He continued to laugh as the delinquent sent him a glare, clearly unaffected.

"Dude, did you say Céline Dion music store _standees_?" Trent asked, clearly amused. "They're- they're just cardboard cutouts. They can't do anything except stand there and stare at you." The black-haired teen tried to silence his laughter, largely out of pity for his friend, but also since no one aside from Ezekiel seemed to be trying.

"Yeah, and that's part of what makes them so creepy. Besides, it's not like I'm the only one here with a stupid fear." Duncan glanced over to Tyler as he said that, causing the jock to quiet down immediately. "What are you guys afraid of anyways?"

"Well, I hate mimes. Like, a lot." Gwen rolled her eyes at Trent's response, clearly annoyed that his fear wasn't something that could be easily manipulated whilst on the island. Silence filled the air and a few campers turned to Noah, staring at him expectantly, including Trent. "Okay dude, you're definitely afraid of _something._"

"Perhaps I am. But I don't believe it's a good idea to disclose my weaknesses to potential enemies." Noah rolled his eyes as he stood up, pushing away his half-finished breakfast. "Well, I'll be leaving now. Can't say I enjoyed the little bonding session, but oh well." The boy then left the room with Ness hopping close behind, just as Chef entered.

The large, muscular man looked out over the dining hall, the Bass' table still on it's side and bowls of his homemade goop sticking to the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling. His eye began to twitch in anger, causing some campers to take the hint and run out before he could yell at them, whilst those that remained, either because they were too slow or too busy hiding, were forced to clean up the mess that had been made.

•・・・•・・・•

It was almost time for lunch, and most of the contestants were under the impression that that day would be another one without a challenge; something that they were quite pleased about. Chris, however, had other ideas. He let out a loud whistle, rounding up the teenagers. "Campers! Your next challenge is a little game I like to call: Phobia Factor! Prepare to face your worst fears!"

"Worse than this?" LeShawna questioned, holding up a dead rat she had found under her bunk.

"We're in trouble." Lindsay shivered, staring at the rodent corpse in disgust.

"Now for our first victims," Chris pulled a cue card out from behind his back and read the name on it, the smirk on his face getting bigger by the second. "Heather! Meet us all in the theatre! It's _sumo time_!"

Heather, who had been eating some gummy worms given to her by Cody, instantly spat them out in shock, spraying them all over ground. "No! I don't- How did you- No no no!" She gripped onto Lindsay's arm as she started to sob, causing the taller blonde to almost feel sorry for her. Almost.

"Gwen!" Chris said, drawing the lone girl's attention away from the scene Heather was causing to stare at the host. "You, me, the beach? A couple tonnes of sand?" The redhead let out a gasp as looks of realisation began to appear on other campers faces.

"H-how did they... how did they know those were our worst fears?" Heather managed to choke out, trying to wipe away her tears. Lindsay ripped her arm from the shorter girl's grasp as Noah began to pat her back comfortingly, causing him to send a glare her way.

"Because we told them." Gwen said, her hands flying to her face as she let out a loud groan of annoyance.

When Heather only responded with a confused look, Noah decided to elaborate on what Gwen had said. "This morning, at breakfast, when everyone shared their fears."

Heather's expression went from scared and confused to angry as she remembered what Gwen had said. _What's my worst fear? I guess being buried alive_. "They were listening to us?" She sniffed, her cheeks beginning to turn red. "That's so not cool beans!"

"It's a reality show, honey. They're _always_ listening to us." Noah muttered, earning a few glares from the others and a slap on the wrist from his pet bunny.

There was the sound of footsteps from the path to the dining hall, and everyone turned to see Chef walking down to the group, a covered plate in one hand as he smiled wickedly. "Chef Hatchet! Didn't you have a special order for Tyler over here?" Chris asked.

Chef nodded, the smile on his face only seeming to get more malicious as he stopped in front of the jock. He held the plate right in front of Tyler's face, and pulled off the cover, revealing a whole deep fried chicken underneath. _Chickens give me the creeps, dude. _Nervously, Tyler picked it up, and took a large bite from where the head shook have been.

Instead of the juicy and tender white meat of a well-cooked chicken, however, Tyler was met with a live one, completely unharmed and full of energy. It let out a loud cluck, causing Tyler to scream and drop it to the ground, running off into the woods to escape his fear.

•・・・•・・・•

The challenge had officially begun, and Beth was up first for the Killer Bass. Chris had managed to find an inflatable kiddy pool that was made up of more patches that covered gaping holes than the actual original material. It was filled to the brim with different kinds of bugs and creepy crawlies, and some of the campers looked to be on the verge of fainting.

_Beth went on for a little too long about her mortal fear is being covered by bugs... _Beth looked at the kiddie pool, watching all the different creatures wiggle and squirm. The detective wannabe took a deep, albeit shaky breath, and handed her glasses to DJ before diving into the pool.

After a few seconds, Beth reappeared on the other side of the pool, a few worms in her mouth. She spat them out in disgust, as her team let out cheers of victory. "And Beth sets the bar way up there!" Chris announced, as a small _ding _could be heard, signifying that the Bass had gotten the first point. DJ quickly handed her her glasses before going off to puke, Timmy staying behind to clap happily. When no one else was around, the raccoon dived into the pool, happily munching away at the creepy crawlies.

The next two up were Katie and Lindsay. The two girls had been seated on stools inside the dining hall, and Chris was approaching them slowly, as if trying to get one of them to snap, with two mullet wigs in his hands. _Bad haircuts... _When neither moved, he gently rested them on top of their heads, making sure not to let a single part of their normal hair show.

As soon as the wig touched her head, Lindsay reacted. She let out a loud, high-pitched scream, and flung the mullet off her head and into Chef's kitchen, causing it to land in the deep fryer. "I am not wearing that lice-infested rat hair on my head!" She yelled, before storming out of the room.

A few of the Gophers, although it was mainly Noah, let out disappointed sighs and began to mutter about what they would do if they lost. Heather began to panic as she overheard a few of her teammates talk about how by some miracle they lost, seeing as they _did _have more members on their team, making it harder for the Bass to win, whether voting for Lindsay would be a good idea.

_Ezekiel talked about his fear of flying... _Ezekiel stood in front of the propeller plane that Chef had put together last minute before the challenge. The rusted panels looked ready to disintegrate, and one of the wings looked like it would fall off at any moment. Chef, dressed in a flight attendant outfit, motioned for the homeschooled boy to come on.

Ezekiel shook as he stepped onboard, and as soon as he'd closed the door behind himself, Chef began to fly the plane up high into the air, causing Ezekiel to let out a loud scream of fear as he was knocked to the back of the plane. He watched from the window as bits of tape began to peel off the wings, revealing deep cracks all along it's surface. Chef did a giant loop in the sky, causing a loose object to hit Ezekiel on the head, knocking him out.

LeShawna was on the ground, shaking in fear as she backed away from an intern dressed in a giant purple spider costume. The inter reached out one of his fake arms in an attempt to comfort her, but the girl slapped it so hard that it flew off. Realising what she could do to win the challenge, or at least her part of it anyway, LeShawna kicked the spider intern in the stomach so hard that he jumped back a few steps, before collapsing to the ground.

"And LeShawna earns the Bass their second point!" Chris declared, the small _ding _going off again. The Killer Bass cheered, holding LeShawna up high. The girl looked over at the Gophers, before locking eyes with Lindsay. She let a smirk slip onto her face and winked, causing Lindsay to mirror her expression. Beth had been eyeing the two girls suspiciously without their knowledge, witnessing the whole interaction, as she was trailing behind the rest of her team due to Timmy clawing at her leg.

"Heather!" Chris slammed his hand down onto the poor girl's shoulder, a grin on his face. Heather let out a whimper as she began to shake, tearing up yet again at the thought of facing her fear. "You're up next. Of course, if you don't want to go up against the poor guy we hired to do this, you don't have to, but-"

"I'll do it." Heather said, her voice cracking as she headed off to the theatre. Every part of her shook as she got closer and closer, almost all of the campers following her from a distance in case she decided to run away at the last second. As she climbed the steps to the stage, her heart beat fast in her chest, the blood in her pumping so hard that she was certain everyone on the island could hear it.

**Confessionals Start**

"Whether Lindsay did the right thing or not during the talent show doesn't matter. We're friends, and I can't let her go home early." Heather was still noticeably shaking, but far calmer than she was standing in front of the giant sumo wrestler. "And we're in an alliance that she's in charge of. Without her it'd kind of fall apart. But she's my friend mainly!"

**Confessionals End**

Heather stood opposite the sumo wrestler, every part of her quivering and shaking so hard she was certain her legs would give way at any moment. _I know this is gonna sound kind of weird, but like, sumo wrestlers_... "This isn't cool beans. Not one bit." She whimpered as her fear began to run at her, letting out a cry in an attempt to make her back down at the last second.

Instead, she did something no one was expecting. Heather ran directly at the 300 pound fighting machine, her eyes squeezed shut as she launched herself at the behemoth. Thankfully for the raven-haired girl's safety, she wasn't perfectly skinny, otherwise she might've been launched back a few hundred metres after hurling herself into the man's stomach. Instead, she ended up tumbling backwards of the stage and rolling for a bit, before stopping just outside the woods.

Although she had been unsuccessful in her attempt to beat the professional sumo wrestler she had been put up against, Heather had been successful in obtaining a point for her team, something they were very, very thankful for. Gwen rushed over to help her up, with Geoff following soon after, leading her back over to the group.

"That was really brave of you, dudette." Geoff complimented Heather, a goofy grin on his face. "I'm not sure I'd be able to hurl myself head first into a hail storm."

"That's probably because you are physically unable to, Geoff." Gwen reminded him, causing him to let out an embarrassed laugh. "But I agree. That was pretty cool, Heather."

"Oh, it was nothing really. I'm sure you guys will do way better than me anyways." Heather said, her face turning red from all the praise. That's when Chris suddenly appeared in front of them, an two interns behind, surrounding the trio. Without warning, the host pushed Gwen backwards, and the interns caught her in a glass case, closing it as soon as she was inside.

The redhead hit the container she was trapped in angrily, glaring at the host. "Chris, what the hell? Let me out!" She yelled, thankful that there was a small opening in the glass that she could slide open so he could hear her properly. The interns began to drag her away to the beach as she screamed, Geoff and Heather running after them as Chris laughed.

Once they had finally reached the beach, the interns tossed Gwen into a pit they had dug in the sand, before beginning to cover her up. "Oh, great, thanks for the warning." She commented, although they ignored her as they continued to work.

Geoff, who was standing back nervously, noticed that both the interns had walkie talkies strapped to their waists. He managed to swipe them whilst neither were paying any attention to what was going on around them, and the party boy bent down so he was close to the opening in her case.

"Hey, don't worry Gwen. I'll be right here." He dropped the communication device inside, causing Gwen to smile with newfound comfort. "You've got enough air in their for maybe an hour? It's a big case, I dunno. But you've only got to be in there for," Geoff noticed one of the interns setting up a timer and placing it into the sand next to Gwen's pit, "five minutes.

"I'll be here the whole time, I promise. If you panic, just call and I'll dig you up straight away, no problem." The warm smile on Geoff's face was enough to convince Gwen that he was telling the truth, and so she smiled back as she slid the opening shut and waved him goodbye, just as her face was covered up with sand.

•・・・•・・・•

DJ was up on the theatre's stage, his hands in his hoodie pockets as he eyed the tiny snake in front of him, tucked away in its enclosure. _Snake! There's a snake! ...Sorry for tripping, snakes just freak me out. _"You can do it, DJ! We believe in you!" Beth cheered from the Bass' bench, a few of their teammates cheering along with her.

The large teen took in a deep breath, before stretching out his arm so the snake could slither onto his hand. After a few seconds, and no negative reaction from the tiny reptile, DJ pulled his arm back with it not resting on his palm, a smile on his face. The cheers grew even louder, as the Bass' counter went up from two to three.

As Chris led everyone off to the next unconquered phobia, Lindsay pulled LeShawna aside. "What's going on? 'Cause right now, your team seems to be pretty far in the lead." She hissed.

"Don't worry about it, girl. Your team has way more people than ours, and 'sides, I bet I could convince Katie to throw off that wig of hers before her time's up. No biggie." LeShawna smirked, placing a hand on Lindsay's shoulder. "I have no idea why you're so worried about this. I can guarantee you, Katie's going home tonight."

Lindsay squinted her eyes at her friend, before sighing and crossing her arms as they continued to walk. "You better be right. Or else I'll have no choice but to tell the other fishies what you've been doing behind their backs."

"Wouldn't put it past you, blondie."

•・・・•・・・•

There were three minutes left on the timer, and Geoff had managed to make himself comfortable by lying down on the sand. "You still alive in there?" Geoff joked into his walkie talkie, using his cowboy hat to shield his face from the sun.

"Yeah. How much time do I have left?" Gwen asked, fear evident in her voice.

"Just three more minutes, then I'll dig you up. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, don't worry." Heather had left to go watch the other contestants, leaving Geoff almost entirely alone on the beach. Trent and Duncan were a couple metres away, talking about something he didn't particularly care about.

"I need some kind of distraction. Could you tell me a story? Just anything, really."

Geoff let his mind wander as he began to think of something to say, when the idea dawned upon him. "Would how I became afraid of hail be okay? I figure it'd kind of help me ready myself against it, y'know, if I told you and stuff."

"That'd be great!" There was a pause. "I mean- only if you want to, of course."

"Of course I want to, I was the one who suggested it." The blonde got up and put his hat back on his head, pacing back and forth a bit as he tried to remember. "It was a long time ago. When I was six, maybe, I don't know, but I was tiny. I remember seeing this stuff on the TV about huge balls of ice, like golf balls, hitting cars and stuff and totally destroying them. It messed me up, dudette. So I guess that's why I- ow!"

"Geoff? What's going on?" Gwen asked, as Geoff continued to yell in pain. Unknown to either of them, Chris had been waiting nearby all along, waiting for the perfect time to test out his weather simulator. He had managed to make a cloud form just over Geoff's head, raining down a steady stream of hail upon him.

One of the balls of ice hit Geoff's walkie talkie, effectively destroying it beyond repair. The poor teen ran past Trent and Duncan, earning a couple of laughs from them. When he noticed Chris standing amongst the trees away from all the commotion and the remote control in his hand, Trent smiled. "Hey Chris! Can you make it go a bit lower?" He yelled, and the host did just that.

As Geoff ran around with his whole head now inside the cloud, Duncan turned to his friend. "I didn't realise you were such an asshole." He snickered, earning a playful nudge in the ribs.

"Guess you're rubbing off on me." Duncan burst out laughing, slapping a hand onto Trent's back as he did so to keep himself steady. "What? What is it?"

"That sounded _really _gay dude." The delinquent smirked as he watched his musician friend fumble and stumble for words in his pitiful attempt at a response.

The host stepped out of the trees, the other campers, sans Ezekiel, all joining him. The teen could be heard faintly screaming somewhere in the distance, barely audible over the loud clanking and engine noises made by the plane he was in. "Looks like Gwen has two minutes to go, so Cody, you're up next!" Chris said, walking down the beach and motioning for the geek so follow him.

_Having to defuse a time bomb under pressure_. Cody swallowed hard as he began to walk across the sand, his knees ready to give way at any moment. Out of all the other campers, Noah was the only one to follow him, as everyone else was a little more concerned for their own health and safety than they were for Cody's ability to complete the challenge.

They reached the end of the beach, the same area they had been dropped off after diving off of the giant 1000 foot high cliff in the first challenge. There, rigged up to a smaller version of Gwen's timer, was three bins filled to the brim with garbage.

"You've got ten minutes before this thing blows." Chris said, a large grin on his face as Cody approached the bomb cautiously. "You can try and defuse it, but you can't get physical help from anyone." The host eyed Noah as he said this, who only rolled his eyes as if to say 'I would never even dream of touching that filth', "But if you get help verbally that's fine as long as he can't see what's going on."

When Chris began to walk away, Cody began to grow more nervous. "Wait, you're not going to watch?"

The middle-aged man snorted, looking at the teen with amusement. "Of course not! That's a live bomb, dude!" He ran away, a set of blueprints falling out of his back pocket as he did so.

Noah walked over and picked it up, shaking the dirt off before unfurling it so he could see what was inside. He looked back over to Cody and showed him the diagrams sketched in white that showed every single delicate step he would need to take to defuse the garbage bomb.

"I believe Chris has just accidentally given us a free point."

•・・・•・・・•

_C-Céline Dion music store standees._

Duncan stared blankly at the standee ten metres away from him. He didn't dare move, just in case it decided to jump out at him- but that's ridiculous! It's Celíne Dion, what's she going to do, sing you to death? And it's made of cardboard! Come on Duncan, get a hold of yourself-

"It's okay if you can't do it, dude." Trent said, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Instantly, all of Duncan's thoughts were washed away, being replaced with Trent.

"You're just saying that 'cause you're on the other team." Duncan brushed him off, although he was kind of really hoping what he thought wasn't true.

"No, I'm serious. Fears are weird, man." Trent looked over at the standee, narrowing his eyes. "And besides, this thing is like, uncanny valley levels of lifelike for a piece of cardboard."

Duncan chuckled, before looking back over at the cardboard Celíne. It didn't really matter to him anymore, whether he got the point for his team or not. He just needed to prove himself to his team, and to Chris, and most importantly for whatever reason his mind was making, to Trent.

So maybe that's why he'd taken a deep breath and run forward, arms stretched out as far as they could go, towards the Celíne Dion music store standee, and embraced it in a hug, all whilst keeping his eyes tightly shut.

He didn't care about his teammates all cheering for him as they won their third point or the jabs Chris threw his way. The music was a little much, in his personal opinion, but it's not like he cared enough to complain.

"You did it, man!" Trent cheered, wrapping his arms around Duncan as soon as the delinquent had pulled away from the standee.

The two stayed like that for a while, long enough that Cody and Noah had managed to not only defuse the bomb, but also walk all the way back to camp, although it really wasn't that far away when you weren't carrying huge crates filled with building supplies.

"Looks like Lindsay and Tyler aren't the only two hooking up on the island." Noah said, rolling his eyes as he smirked. Duncan and Trent instantly let go of each other after his remark, one of them significantly more embarrassed than the other.

"Oh yeah, Trent and I are so in love that we can't keep our hands off each other. How else would I have managed to hug Celíne over there?" Duncan managed to make it sound like he was joking just as Noah was, although he couldn't figure out why it didn't feel like one when the words left his lips.

That was when Ezekiel came stumbling out of the woods, dazed and confused. His normally neat and tidy hair was an absolute mess, but aside from that and his disorientation, he seemed to be unaffected by his plane ride.

The homeschooled boy gave everyone a thumbs up, before collapsing to the ground in a tired heap. Chef came out of the woods soon after, wearing a blonde wig and ill-fitting female flight attendant's uniform. "Chef, what the hell? I thought I told you to keep him in the air for at least another hour!"

"Well how am I supposed to stop the kid from jumping out of the plane when you don't give me anyway to lock the damn doors?" Chef shot back. "The weirdo saw an opportunity when we were flying low over some trees, and he took it. Surprised he didn't break something, actually."

Chris sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Guess that means that the Bass are still in front, with four points to the Gophers' two."

"Make that three for the Gophers, Chris." Geoff said, his body battered and bruised from all the hail pelting him beforehand. All that was left of the miniature storm was a small grey wisp, forming around the blonde's head almost like a halo.

"I could, or I could remind you of a certain someone who completed their challenge about," Chris glanced down at his watch, "I'd say five minutes ago."

Geoff stared at the host in confusion, until, slowly, he realised who Chris was talking about. "Oh shoot, Gwen!" The party boy ran back towards the beach, as if Gwen's hour of air had suddenly been limited to two minutes.

Grabbing a nearby shovel that one of the interns had left lying on the ground, Geoff began to dig up Gwen, desperate to see that she was okay. What was a few minutes felt like hours to the boy as he shoveled the sand away, until, finally, he saw her face.

"Gwen! You're okay!" He yelled, trying to pull her out of the ditch as best as he could. It was a little difficult, considering her coffin was made of solid glass, but he was at least making progress.

"I've been better." She mumbled, stretching out her arms and legs as soon as she was out. "That felt like longer than three minutes, after you went. What happened?"

Geoff sheepishly looked down to the ground. "Well uh, Chris kind of sent me to do a hail check, I guess you could call it." Seeing the broken walkie talkie lying on the sand, he picked it up and held it gently in his hands.

Gwen examined the broken electronic. "Ah. Well, that's okay. I mean, if you'd just run off then that wouldn't have been okay, but..." She looked up into his baby blue eyes, her emerald green ones sparkling with an emotion he couldn't place. "I'd be a hypocrite if I wasn't okay with you disappearing because Chris sprung up on you unexpectedly."

The two teens laughed together, their shoulders bumping against each other being the only reason they realised how close they were to one another. Although neither was quite sure at that moment as to why, they both began to lean in, only stopping when their lips softly met.

Heather ran out of the woods, panting heavily in exhaustion. "Gwen! Thank God you're- _oh_." Geoff and Gwen pulled away, their faces bright red and their hands locked by their fingers. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something! I'll just go!"

"No, no, it's okay!" Gwen got up, accidentally bringing Geoff with her. "We needed to get back to the others anyway, you go ahead." Heather nodded, before rushing back into the trees.

"Hey, so um, you don't have to uh, go out with me or anything-" Geoff began, only to be cut off by Gwen's giggling. "What's so funny?"

"You're kind of an idiot, is all." Gwen answered, before kissing him once again. "I'd love to go out with you. As soon as we get off of this stupid island, of course."

•・・・•・・・•

Katie looked at herself in the mirror, playing around with her wig, trying to make it look good. She bit her lip in frustration, before sighing and taking a step back, completely giving up.

The bathroom door opened, causing Katie to whip her head around so fast that her wig would have flown off her head if she wasn't holding it down. "Woah, calm down, girl! It's just Shawnie!"

"Oh... Hey, LeShawna." Katie mumbled, a sad smile on her face. She glanced between her teammate and the mirror, her smile disappearing entirely.

LeShawna walked over, resting a hand gently onto Katie's back. "What's wrong? You're not as happy as you are normally."

Katie looked back towards LeShawna, tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes. "I-It's just... The reason I , like, fear having a bad haircut is because of Sadie. I'm scared of what she would, like, think of me."

"Why? Like, don't get me wrong, she's sweet 'n' all, and I get you're best friends or whatever, but why should you care so much?" Katie sniffed, wiping her eyes as LeShawna continued to stare her down.

"I've been wanting to tell her this for, like, ages, but I haven't had the guts..." Katie tugged at the wig on her head nervously, "I kind of... like Sadie. In a more-than-friends kind of way."

"Well if that's the case, you're going to want to look your best, right? After all, we _are_ on a reality TV show that'll be shown all across the country." LeShawna couldn't help but let a small smirk slip onto her face when she thought Katie wasn't looking.

"Yeah... yeah, you're right." Katie pulled the wig off her head, scrunching it up into a little ball. "I can't let her see me like this!"

Katie walked out of the Bass' bathroom, heading straight for the cliff. She ran as fast as she could and, once she reached the top, she threw the wig so hard it disappeared as it flew towards the horizon, carried by the wind.

Meanwhile, Bridgette and Courtney were hanging out by the pool at the Playa Des Losers, when a muddy brown mullet wig landed in the water, splashing the two girls.

"Ugh! What the fuck _is_ that?!" Courtney yelled, kicking it out of the pool with her foot, sending it flying over to Harold, who had been fast asleep on one of the lounge chairs nearby.

Bridgette clung onto Courtney's arm, still shaken from the unexpected flying wig. "Thanks, Court." She said, her voice airy and light, as if she wasn't really there.

"Well, if a dead rat thinks it can just invade on my cuddle time with you, then it's got another thing coming." Courtney replied, a smile on her face as Bridgette let out a small giggle.

•・・・•・・・•

Tyler was sitting down in the dodgeball arena, surrounded by chickens. He was having a surprisingly good time, and had managed to conquer his fear easily.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"Who knew that chickens were really just giant softies!" Tyler laughed, plucking a few feathers out of his hair. "And their babies are adorable! I don't know why I was so scared of them!"

**Confessionals** **End**

Lindsay wasn't pleased whatsoever by these results. It meant the teams were tied, and that meant, she assumed, a double elimination. "What do we do now? Everyone's done their challenges, and we're tied six all." She huffed.

Chris chuckled, crossing his arms. "Now, I wouldn't say everyone has completed their challenge." Slowly, as if trying to milk out every last drop of drama he could, Chris turned to Noah.

The bespectacled teen smirked, one hand on his hip. "Look, Chris, I didn't say my fear. So, clearly, you can't- why are you smiling at me like that?" Noah began to grow uneasy as Chris' malicious grin only grew wider.

"Oh, Noah, you act like I don't review the footage for every episode. I thought you were the smart one!" Chris let out a hearty laugh that made Noah's normally dark skin turn pale. "Now, if you would all be so kind as to follow me..."

Cody looked at his friend, concern evident in his eyes. "Hey, dude, are you okay?" He asked, as they began to follow Chris deep into the woods with the rest of the campers.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not like Chris is smart enough to have figured it out. He probably thinks it's something stupid, like the dark." Noah gulped as the dirt beneath their feet became damper, until he could hear it make a disgusting _squelch _noise.

Although Cody wasn't convinced of Noah's false confidence in the slightest, he decided to hide his worry so that Noah would feel better. Finally, the group reached a clearing, where, right in the centre, was a tub filled with muck.

"Welcome, everyone, to our tiebreaker!" Chris announced, gesturing grandly towards the tub. "If Noah conquers his fear, then the Gophers will win! If not, then they'll have to wish one of their teammates goodbye.

"To conquer his fear, Noah has to climb this tree, which we have equipped with the longest ladder we could find." On the tallest tree in the clearing, there was a long, rickety ladder, barely holding together, even with all the duct tape and glue on it's sagging joints.

"He will then jump off the platform at the top into this giant above ground swimming pool filled with dirt, mud, and all that other good stuff, and stay in there for ten seconds." Chris chuckled as he watched some of the campers cringe.

Noah looked at the brown mess, bubbling up as if it contained a beast that wanted to be set free from it's murky prison. His whole body shook as he took a step back from it, but he was stopped by a reassuring hand on his back.

"Hey." Cody whispered softly, turning Noah's face to look at him. He moved his hand from Noah's back to rest on his other cheek, so he was holding his friend's head in his hands. He tried to ignore the way his cheeks turned darker when he did that, hoping Noah wouldn't acknowledge his own blush in return.

"Hey." Noah choked out, a small smile appearing on his face.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to. Lindsay didn't complete her challenge either. I could just try and convince everyone to vote for her."

Noah laughed a genuine laugh, one that caused his nose to scrunch up and his eyes to close slightly, a laugh Cody loved. _Wait- _"That's a nice thing of you to say. But I've got to do this." He looked up at the ladder, a newfound determination in his eyes.

At that moment, Cody had never felt more of an urge to kiss the boy in front of him. But he resisted that urge, instead ruffling his hair. "I knew you would say that."

"Oh really now?"

"Well, no. But that doesn't matter. What _does _matter is that you conquer that fear of yours."

Noah walked over to the ladder, keeping his eyes off the tub he would soon be diving into so he wouldn't lose all the confidence he had just earned. Ness jumped out of Noah's jacket, landing softly on the ground and getting their paws dirty in the process, as Noah set one foot on the bottom rung. He ignored the way the ladder squealed and creaked under his weight until he got to the branch directly above the muck below.

The tan teen took a deep breath, blocking out all the sounds around him, especially the Bass' jeers as they tried to get him not to jump down. He raised his arms above his head, before leaping off the edge, a loud squelching noise echoing through the island as soon as he landed, sending a disgusted shiver up his spine.

Noah could barely make out Chris counting to ten, but when it was finally time for him to come out, he did so in haste. His glasses were caked in mud, and his clothes were ruined, and he wanted more than he ever had before to be booted off the island, but he had done it. Noah had won it for his team.

All of the Gophers cheered for the filthy teen, some of them completely ignoring their own need for hygiene as they enveloped him in a group hug. "Well, Bass, looks like you're on the chopping block once again! Better figure out who you'll be voting off tonight." Chris said.

•・・・•・・・•

**Confessionals Start**

"I swear, getting Katie voted off was the easiest thing I've ever done." LeShawna let out a fake yawn to show off how bored she was. "The girl's more fragile about her appearance than one of my mama's mirrors."

**Confessionals End**

When LeShawna walked out of the confessional, she failed to noticed a small shrub that had mysteriously 'grown' next to the stall over the course of the day. As soon as she was out of sight, Beth popped her head out of the bush, green leaves sticking in her hair.

"Did you get that, DJ?" She asked, a shocked expression on her face.

The teen in question fell out of the tree he was hiding in soon after, the branch he was sitting on having snapped under his weight. "Oh, you bet I did. That girl is going down."

"But how? We've already voted, and for _Katie._" Beth groaned, putting her head into her hands. "I feel so bad now..."

"It's simple, Beth." DJ said, brushing himself off as he got up. "The next time we have an elimination challenge, we throw it. But only _after _revealing LeShawna as the slippery eel she is."

Beth's uneasy expression quickly turned into one of joy. "That's a great idea, DJ!" She looked back in the direction LeShawna had walked off in, a new, confident look on her face. "Hear that, LeShawna? You're going down! Operation Avenge Harold will soon be complete!"

•・・・•・・・•

"I can't say I'm surprised by the outcome of this elimination. Just disappointed." Chris had thrown all his other marshmallows to everyone on the Bass except Katie, meaning she was the one who had to go home. "You know the drill by this point."

Katie nodded, her head pointed down towards the ground as she walked off towards the docks. As soon as she set foot on the wooden planks, she heard a familiar squeal from on the boat.

"Katie! It's you!" Sadie squealed, waving her arms around excitedly. She was sitting on the boat, waving a little flag she had made out of a skewer and a piece of paper, decorated with her BFFFL's face.

"Sadie!" Katie squealed in reply, grabbing her luggage out of an intern's hands and dashing onto the boat, excitedly. "I've got, like, so much to tell you! I've learned, like, so much!"

"I can't wait! So much has, like, happened back at the resort! It's so exciting!" The two girls giggled in unison, talking and squealing excitedly the whole ride to the Playa.


	8. Up The Creek

Beth shook Duncan's shoulder, trying to wake him up. It had been five minutes of continuous shaking, and yet he still remained fast asleep. She looked over to DJ and gave him a little nod. The two Bass switched places by the delinquent's bedside, Tyler ducking underneath his bed in fear. DJ pulled back his hand as far as he could, before slapping Duncan across the face, causing a loud smacking noise to resonate throughout the cabin.

Beth joined Tyler under the bed as Duncan's teal eyes flew open, a fiery anger in his eyes. He sat up, sending a glare at the larger teen, trying to scare him. Of course, it didn't work. "DJ, what the _fuck_?"

"Look, dude, I'm sorry, but we gotta talk." DJ said, crossing his arms. Duncan tossed his legs over the side of the bed, as Beth and Tyler crawled out from their hiding spot. "We all do."

"Is this about meddling with the other team?" Duncan grunted, rubbing his eyes. "Because I know you've been hanging out with Nerd and Nerdier, Four Eyes."

"First of all, please call us by our proper names," Duncan snorted in response to Beth's request, "Second of all, I need someone to go mystery solving with me aside from just DJ, and third of all, it's not."

Duncan raised an eyebrow, his annoyance turning into curiosity. "Well then, what is this about?"

The other three Bass exchanged nervous glances. Tyler pressed his ear up against the wall dividing the girl's and boy's side of the cabin. When he was certain LeShawna was still snoring away, he gave a thumbs up, and the discussion officially begun.

•・・・•・・・•

"Bass, Gophers! Today's challenge is a true summer camp experience." Chris said. Some of the campers seemed far more pleased by what the host had laid out in front of them than others.

The host slammed down one of his hands on the roof of a green canoe. "This will be a reward challenge, so don't get your hopes up if you were planning any sneaky shit." He chuckled upon seeing the nervous looks some of the campers gave him, before continuing.

"Anyways! For this challenge, you'll be paddling your canoes across the lake to Boney Island!" A few campers looked around in fear, trying to figure out where the creepy music had come from, only for it to stop soon after. "Then when you get there, you must bring your canoes to the other side of the island!"

"That doesn't sound too bad." Tyler said, relaxing a little.

"Which is about a two hour hike through dense, treacherous jungle!" The jock gulped and he immediately tensed up again at Chris words. "When you reach the other end of the island, you will build a rescue fire, and only when you finish that will you be able to paddle your canoes and return to the beach, where the winning team will be receiving a full spa treatment, with actual masseuses! Chef wanted to do it, but I told him he would probably break your backs, and we can't afford a lawsuit... yet."

"Why is that 'yet' leaving me unsettled?" Cody whispered to Noah as they began to head off to the canoes.

"Oh! And one more thing!" Chris yelled out. "Don't take anything off of Boney Island! That stuff is cursed, dude!"

With that, the host slid on a pair of sunglasses and walked off, leaving the campers on their own.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"This is perfect!" Cody cheered, gripping his beanie to his chest. "I can get some time to talk alone with Noah! Then maybe I can... well... ask him if he even likes guys, for starters."

-

"So this is a reward challenge. That's fine." Beth shrugged, kicking her legs back and forth. Although she sounded calm, she was clearly annoyed. "It just means I get more time to talk strategy with the others."

**Confessionals** **End**

Noah had handed Ness over to Chef, since he was probably the most trustworthy staff member out of everyone who would be staying on the island, before walking over to the canoes. Cody wasn't too far behind him, and despite stumbling in the sand a few times, managed to gain enough composure so that he didn't feel like a complete and utter mess.

"Hey, Noah!" The teen in question turned around, and for a split second there was an almost smile on his face. "I was, uh, wondering if you'd like to be my rowing partner?" Cody asked sheepishly, tapping his index fingers together out of nervousness.

Noah hid the smile on his face by replacing it with a smug smirk, shrugging a little as if he wasn't bothered at all. "Sure, it's not like anyone else was offering anyways." On the inside, though, there was a sudden surge of questions bouncing around in his mind. Why did Cody look so nervous? Why was he the first choice? Why did the idea of simply going on a canoe with no one else make him feel so weird? It's not like it was anything romantic!

Cody shot him a grin, before ushering him into a green canoe nearby. He began trying to push it out to the lake, but it was far more difficult than he had anticipated. After he slipped up a few times, and faceplanted into the muddy banks once, Noah decided to get back out of the canoe to help his friend push it out, despite his protests.

Giving Tyler a quick peck on the cheek before he was dragged away by Beth and Duncan, Lindsay walked over to Heather, who had been walking in Gwen's direction. She grabbed one of her arms, digging her perfectly manicured fingernails into her skin. "Ow! Lindsay, my arm!" Heather let out a hiss of pain as Lindsay only dug her fingers deeper into her arm, dragging her over to one of the canoes.

"You're rowing." Lindsay stated, practically throwing Heather behind the canoe so she could push it out. There were bright red marks in Heather's otherwise milky skin, something that Gwen managed to spot from her canoe nearby with Geoff.

Gwen nudged her boyfriend in the ribs, pointing out the marks on Heather's skin after gaining his attention. "I don't think that those were there a moment ago." There was a concerned look in her eyes, and Geoff knew that meant something was up.

"You're right, they weren't." Geoff squinted at the marks, as if it would help him make out the finer details. "And you're worried, aren't you? I know you two have gotten kind of close."

Gwen nodded, her brows furrowed and her lips pursed into a neat little frown. "I guess we have. Lindsay tends to keep her away from everyone, but…" She finally noticed the glare that said blonde was sending their way, which she very easily sent back. "We should get going. Don't wanna come last, after all."

Although Geoff suspected something was off in Gwen's sudden change of demeanour, he chose to do as she asked, and together the couple continued to push their canoe out onto the lake. They quickly hopped into it, and began rowing off to Boney Island.

**Confessionals Start**

"I'm not dumb," Gwen said, her eyes narrowed, and her arms folded across her chest, "I'm onto you, Lindsay. There's something I don't like about you, but one thing is for certain: if I find out you're hurting Heather, someone will be in for a beating. And it sure as hell won't be me."

**Confessionals End**

Duncan was placed in charge of rowing on his three-person canoe, which probably wasn't the smartest decision Beth and Tyler had made, as now the delinquent had led them to row right beside Trent and Ezekiel. Although Ezekiel didn't seem to happy about it either, he did still awkwardly glance over at Beth on occasion, who seemed oblivious to his presence.

Occasionally Beth or Tyler would accidentally bump into the other canoe, sometimes on purpose, in hopes of reminding their guide that they were in the middle of a competition, and now was not the time to talk to the _opposing team _. Of course, these warnings were never paid much heed, until Beth finally had enough.

"Duncan! We can't get to Boney Island if you keep talking to Trent! We need to _go! _" She complained, throwing her hands up in the air, board still in hand, accidentally hitting Ezekiel across the head in the process.

Rolling his eyes, Duncan seated himself properly before pointing directly ahead. He couldn't actually see where he was going because they had managed to reach an area so foggy that it was like rowing through pea soup, but he was hoping that their destination was still directly ahead of them, as it had been the last time he checked.

"Fine then, row-" He was abruptly interrupted by a loud scraping sound coming from underneath Trent's canoe, causing Ezekiel to jump out of his enforced unconsciousness.

"What the hell was that, eh?" Suddenly, all five campers lurched forward in their seats, as their canoes reached the sandy shores of Boney Island, quickly followed by everyone else.

Cody hopped out of his canoe, looking up at the tall trees as the fog gave way to more of a light mist. "You know, this place isn't all that bad!" He said, before tripping over and falling onto the ground. Flipping himself over, he looked down to see what had gotten in his way, and let out a high-pitched scream. "What the _fuck _!"

"Dude, what's wrong?" Trent asked as the Gophers began to crowd around their fallen teammate, allowing the Bass extra time to get ahead.

"There's a skull! A human skull!" Cody screamed, pointing at the yellowed bone half-buried in sand that lay by his feet. Ezekiel dug away the sand surrounding it, picking it up in his hands and positioning it so he could see it better in what little light they got from the sun.

"I don't know where Chris is buying these props, but they aren't very convincing." He muttered, before tossing it back onto the beach. Trent gave him a weird look, and as soon as the rest of their team began picking up their canoes and moving off into the woods, he tapped him on the shoulder. "What is it, Trent?"

"How in hell do you know how to tell the difference between a fake skull and a real one?" He asked, causing his homeschooled friend to let out a nervous laugh.

・・・•・・・•

The Bass were racing through the forest, canoes held high above their heads as they ran down the old, worn-out trails through the trees and bushes. Tyler let out a laugh, clearly having the time of his life whilst supporting the majority of the weight of his canoe. Beth was so short she was hanging onto it for dear life as her feet barely touched the ground, whilst Duncan couldn't really care less at that moment, considering they were so far ahead.

"And Chris said this would be difficult!" The jock cheered, removing one hand from the canoe to fist pump the air out of excitement. One of Beth's hands slipped, and she was now dangling dangerously on an angle, so Tyler quickly put his hand back in its place after mumbling a quick 'sorry'.

"I wouldn't dismiss what he said just yet, man." Duncan said, suddenly skidding to a stop, causing DJ to almost crash into Tyler behind him.

Beth dropped from the canoe, as she'd been losing her grip for a while anyway, and walked to the front of the group. "It appears we have come to a crossroads." She ignored Duncan's reply of 'no shit, Sherlock', taking a quick look at each path instead. One of them was more formal, with small wooden logs outlining the path, whilst the other looked like it had been made by a four-year-old.

"Hey, Four Eyes, you might wanna pick a path before Christmas, because I'm pretty sure I can hear the other team getting closer!" Duncan complained, as the Gophers' conversations became louder and louder. Beth began running down the closest path to her, which just so happened to be the messier one, in response to the punk's complaint, and the rest of her team followed.

The Gophers finally arrived just in time to see the Bass head down the path on the right. "If they're going that way, then we should go this way." Lindsay said from on top of her canoe, trying to remove a small pebble from the sole of her wedges. Heather let out a strained huff as she struggled to hold the canoe above her head, before going down the left path.

**Confessionals Start**

"Turns out rowing a canoe takes a lot more concentration than I expected," Cody was toying with his necklace, and there appeared to be bite marks in it that he was smoothing out so it was back in its proper crescent shape, "But I'm certain I can ask him the question now! I mean, all we're doing is walking, after all! There's nothing too difficult about that!"

**Confessionals End**

Cody anxiously looked around at the surrounding trees. The mist had lifted a while back, allowing him to finally see the island clearly for the first time. The trees grew so tall that they blocked out the sky, with only a few stray beams of light creeping through the leaves and branches of the canopy. Vines draped down from the trees, dragging along the bottom of the canoes and lightly tickling his heels as the group walked along the path.

There was an almost eerie silence. Normally in a place with as prosperous plant life as Boney Island, there would be the sound of birdsong or the chitter of small woodland creatures, perhaps even the gentle sound of a deer's footsteps along the forest floor, but there was nothing. Nothing other than the Gophers' footsteps and quiet whispers of conversation.

Noah and Cody were at the very back of the group. Cody knew this, and yet it felt like there were a thousand eyes on him. It was just the cameras, he told himself, the hidden cameras that probably lay on every tree branch in this whole god forbidden forest. He hadn't seen them, but they were probably just really well-hidden. Yeah.

"Cody?" _What the fuck was that? _Oh. Just Noah. Just Noah giving him a really concerned look. Cody would have enjoyed the care in his friend's eyes a lot more if it weren't for the situation they were in. "You've been really quiet for a while now. What's wrong?"

The brunette worried at his lip, and he began to really wish that it was his necklace in its place, because he was seriously certain that if he chewed at it much longer he'd draw blood. "It's nothing. Well, I mean, it _is _something. I've just, y'know, been thinking-"

Noah snickered, and the concerned look on his face twisted into that of teasing. "That's dangerous." The two chuckled a little bit, before Noah's expression turned back into a more serious one. "Continue, though."

Cody cleared his throat before chuckling nervously, and oh boy, if his lip wasn't on the verge of bursting open and bleeding before, it sure as hell was now- "Well I was thinking, um, if maybe you were, uh-"

A scream from up ahead interrupted what he was saying, and instantly, both of the nerds turned their attention to the front, rushing forwards to join the others. There, sinking into the ground at a steady pace, was Lindsay, her bandanna falling down over her eyes.

"What are you doing? Get me out of here, Heather!" She screeched, sending Heather into a deeper state of panic then she was already in. The raven-haired girl tapped at the ground wearily with her foot, only to get yelled at again. She rushed in, getting stuck right next to Lindsay, who was now thrashing around as best as she could with only her elbows and up visible.

Cody could practically feel a lightbulb pop up above his head as he began looking around for a vine long and strong enough for his use. "Help, somebody!" Heather cried out, and he quickly ran off to grab a vine, running back far enough so that he'd be able to get enough momentum.

Just as his feet were barely able to touch the ground, even from a rock he'd managed to hop up onto, he stopped resisting the vine's need to swing back. Cody soared through the air, one arm out so that he'd be able to grab Heather's hand as she waved it around wildly. Their fingertips brushed against each other as he sped past the group, then Heather and Lindsay, before finally stopping as he collided with s tree on the other side.

His efforts were not in vain, however, as he managed to make out a blurry form that looked like Heather pulling Lindsay up and out of the quicksand, covered head to toe in the substance. The rest of the group crept around the edges by hopping on rocks and climbing over the trees so they wouldn't end up with the same fate, before they'd managed to join each other once again on the other side.

As soon as his head stopped spinning, Cody found himself wrapped up tight in Heather's arms, forcing him to bend down slightly so that she could put her arms around his neck. "Thank you so, so much!" She said, being ever-so-slightly too loud as the ringing in Cody's ears had only just died down. "That was so totally awesome sauce of you!"

"Oh, uh, thanks, Heather!" Cody said sheepishly, hugging her back lightly. She may have appeared pudgy, but turns out she had quite a bit of muscle. That's probably how she managed to carry Lindsay _and _the canoe.

Heather let go of Cody as if only just then realising her canoe was on the other side of the quicksand, trying her best to keep it away from the trap as she snuck around. As soon as she was back, and the canoe was up high above her head once again, the Gophers set off down the rest of the track.

Off in the distance, Chris let out an annoyed sigh as he put down his binoculars. "I was hoping for something better out of that!" He huffed. One of his interns just rolled their eyes as they tried their best to keep the helicopter they were in hovering hundreds of feet off the ground. "Still can't believe they fell for it though!"

The host then put his binoculars back up to his face, before looking over to where the Killer Bass were peacefully making their way down their path. He then looked further up the trail, and saw some very large, very menacing animals who were supposed to be _very _extinct.

"Oh man," he chuckled, using one hand to keep his binoculars up as he used the other to fumble around for his megaphone, "the Bass have _no _idea what's waiting for them up ahead!" Chris let out a loud laugh as the creatures finally crossed paths with the small group of teenagers.

LeShawna looked at the animals that were laying down ahead, completely covering the path. "Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me." She muttered, stepping over the sleeping creatures. "Beavers with _dental issues? _I thought this place was meant to be scary."

"I dunno…" Beth said as she saw Timmy begin to shake in fear from his spot, resting on the underside of one of the seats. The spoiled little raccoon was eyeing the resting beavers wearily, as if the very sight of them was about to give him a heart attack. "Timmy seems pretty scared by them."

There was a loud laugh from LeShawna, and the beavers began to stir, a murderous look in their beady black eyes. "You're jokin'! You're sayin' we should be scared of some oversized rodents, just 'cause your undersized one is?" She continued to laugh, until a low growling noise began to come from behind the group.

One by one, each member of the Bass turned around to face what was making the terrifying noise. There, standing on all fours, was every single one of the beavers, wide awake and quite pissed at their rude awakening. Every single one of them bore their teeth, snarling at the campers as they quivered in fear.

"Don't worry, campers!" Chris called out from up above, his megaphone only making the situation worse. "They may be carnivorous, but I am fairly certain there aren't any reported cases of them eating humans! Right, Jerry?" The intern Chris asked just gave a shrug of indifference. "I'm pretty sure that means yes!"

"Not helping, Chris!" Duncan shouted back, already running with the rest of his team away from the beavers. Even the smallest ones were at eye level with DJ, by far the tallest contestant on the island, and their impressive teeth could without a doubt swallow Beth down in one bite.

In their state of panic, the Bass almost lost sight of their trail several times, with the beavers snapping at their heels, desperate for a morning snack, or perhaps revenge on those who had woken them up. After what felt like endless running and a painfully similar chase sequence to those found in childhood kid's cartoons featuring four teenagers and their dog, the group finally ran out of breath.

The beavers, however, had not.

"Well," Tyler said between pants, sweat dripping down his forehead, "looks like this is the end. Let Lindsay know I love her." Duncan slapped the jock across the face, although it was weak due to his tiredness.

"Keep yourself together, man! We can't… we can't give up yet!" The punk was gasping for air as they all continued to back away from the beavers, who were now encroaching upon them slowly, as if they knew they were done for and that this was all a gave to them. "We can still get through this!"

The ground beneath the Bass' feet began to wet and slippery, as if they'd just stepped onto a thin layer of mud. All of a sudden, the beavers stopped walking forwards, and their looks of malice turned into those of fear and worry. Beth looked down as they continued to back up. "Could they be… afraid of swamps?"

Duncan laughed as he looked between the ground beneath his feet and the beavers, who were now retreating. "No way, dude! That's, like, some kind of miracle!"

The beavers began walking away, until finally, it was just the Bass, standing all by themselves in the swampland. A silence befell the group, and unlike the one from before, when they had been walking amongst the trees, this one was comfortable.

DJ was the first to speak up. "It looks like we managed to stay on the path, guys." Everyone turned around to see that, indeed, the path was all set out in front of them. "Let's keep going."

・・・•・・・•

By some miracle, the Gophers had managed to make it to the clearing where they'd be building their fires first, despite their earlier issue with the quicksand. They all split up and began to search for firewood, with Cody and Noah looking for fire starters, Trent and Ezekiel searching for kindling, Geoff and Gwen gathering some heavier pieces to keep it going, and Lindsay and Heather keeping lookout.

As soon as the rest of the team was out of her direct line of sight, Lindsay turned to Heather, a raging fire burning behind her eyes. "What on _earth _made you think tossing me off the back of the canoe into quicksand was a good idea?" She hissed, jabbing one of her long, sharp, bright red fingernails into Heather's chest.

"I-it was an accident! I swear!" Heather whimpered, the nail digging into her skin reminding her of those same ones nearly cutting her flesh earlier that same day. "You know I wouldn't do something like that on purpose!"

"Ha! Am I, now?" Lindsay's mouth twisted into a crooked snarl, contorting her normally magazine cover-worthy face into one that could be compared to those seen on evil stepmothers you read about in fairy tales. "You know, maybe inviting you into this alliance was a bad idea. All you've done is be a nuisance!"

"Lindsay, please, I'll change!" Gwen was climbing out of the bushes with two large logs of wood under her arms, when she stopped. Lindsay and Heather were fighting, and they were fighting _bad. _"Just, please, don't kick me out of the alliance!"

"You better change," Lindsay scoffed, "and you better make it snappy, because I'm not so sure I'll be able to protect you if I accidentally let it slip that you switched a harmless book of fairy tales for Gwen's precious diary back in that talent show…"

"But… but I didn't-"

"Oh, I know you didn't, but your name _is _on the inside of that fairy tale book! Poor Trent, framed for something as terrible as reading out the poor loner girl's diary, when in reality, it was all the fault of some fat ugly girl who couldn't wrap her head around basic nail art if she tried!" Lindsay's nails were like claws as they scratched thin lines across Heather's torso, not deep enough to draw blood, but certainly bad enough to glow bright red.

That's when Gwen decided to reveal herself to the two other girls, causing their fight to instantly stop. "Is something the matter?" She asked, trying her best to keep her anger out of her tone as she eyed Heather's injury that almost matched the one on her arm.

"Oh, no, of course not! Heather was just looking at some of the bushes since she saw some berries, and she fell in! I was just making sure she was okay." There was a sickly sweet smile on Lindsay's face, and damn, was she a good actor, because if it weren't for what Gwen had just witnessed, she might have just believed her.

The redhead glanced over at the other girl, raising an eyebrow as if to ask if what she said was true. She was expecting her to speak out, maybe say that wasn't what had happened, say the truth instead, but all she did was nod her head and stare at the ground, as if she was ashamed of herself.

"See! I told you. Now, please, just leave the wood here, and then you can go grab some more!" Gwen mumbled something under her breath, before dropping the logs down on the sand and heading back into the woods just as Trent and Ezekiel came out. She shot Trent a weird look, one he almost thought was of sympathy, before completely disappearing.

The duo dumped the kindling they'd managed to gather next to the logs so that when it came time to build their fire it would be easier, and were about to head back into the bushes and trees when out came the Bass on the other side of the, admittedly quite small, beach. Something shiny in Duncan's hand caught Ezekiel's eye, which he was quick to point out.

"I think Duncan's got a lighter, eh." He whispered to Trent, pointing out the small, shiny box. The two stared at their friend as he opened it up and flicked the lighter so that a small flame lit up.

"Do you think we'd be able to get it off him?" Trent asked, glancing down at Ezekiel, who shot him an incredulous look. "What? It's not fair that they get a lighter when we don't! Besides, I'm not planning on _keeping _it."

Ezekiel looked back at the lighter in Duncan's hand, the flame flickering on and off as the delinquent played around with it in boredom. "I… I suppose we could borrow it, eh. But you'd be more likely to get it off him than me."

Trent took in a deep breath before standing up straight in an attempt to gain some confidence. The thought of trying to convince Duncan to part with the one advantage his team had over the Gophers was enough to send a wave of nervousness crashing over him. He told himself it was the pressure.

As he walked over to the Bass' side of the beach, he heard Ezekiel call out from behind him. "Go get him, tiger!" He yelled out, and instantly Trent stopped in his tracks.

"You're meant to say that in quiet!" Trent yelled back as he felt questioning pairs of eyes begin to look over at the commotion. "And you're also only meant to say that when someone's trying to hook up! Which I'm not! I'm not trying to hook up!" There were a few snickers, but whenever the amateur musician looked to where they had come from, eyes were averted and smiles were hidden.

"You sure about that?" Trent could feel his face heat up at the comment, coming from a certain someone who was all too familiar. "Don't think I didn't see you eyeing me back there."

Trent ignored the smirk on Duncan's face, instead staring at the lighter. "Yeah, in your dreams. I was actually going to ask you something."

One end of Duncan's unibrow raised in intrigue. "Oh?"

"Yeah. You see," Trent took a step forward, his eyes still trained on the lighter in Duncan's hand, "regarding you lighter, I was wondering if I could perhaps borrow it?" Duncan scoffed, tossing the object in his hands around a bit.

"As if I'd do that. Then you guys would be able to go, and I'm not letting that happen." Trent was still inching closer ever so slightly, completely ignoring Duncan's words, instead nodding and mumbling words of affirmation to make it sound like he was paying attention. "Dude! I just told you, I'm not giving it to you!"

Trent snapped out of his miniature trance, standing up straight immediately as if trying his best to not look suspicious, automatically making him more so. It's not like he was being subtle, anyways. "Why not?"

"I told you, it's because- ugh, you know what?" Duncan turned around, and for a split second, Trent considered just taking the lighter and running. "Hey, Four Eyes! Catch!"

Beth turned around, already on edge due to the mere idea of Duncan throwing something at her. Duncan threw the lighter at her, and because Beth wasn't a particularly good catcher, it hit her in the face. Fortunately for her face, it had experience being hit by foreign objects before, and was thus able to withstand the impact.

"You're gonna have a harder time getting her to fall for your puppy eyes." Duncan smirked, only to receive one of confusion in return.

"I… I wasn't doing puppy eyes?" Trent blinked a bit, scratching his chin. "I was staring at the lighter all the time."

Duncan scoffed, trying to hide the slight panic he felt upon realising that Trent had, in fact, been eyeing up the lighter, and not even giving him a glance. "Well… what are you still doing here?" He spun his friend around, giving him a light push back to the Gophers. "You're not welcome over here anymore, we don't want you guys getting any ideas on how to build a decent fire, or worse, sabotage ours."

Trent hurried off quickly after that, only feeling more and more confused by the minute. "I'm guessing it didn't go too well, eh." Ezekiel said. He had watched the whole entire thing from a rock on the edge of the woods, and was now patting the space next to him, inviting his friend to come sit.

"Yeah, not really." Trent gladly took the seat, letting out a little puff of breath to get his hair out of his eyes as he rested his head on his hands. "Duncan's been acting kind of weird lately, and I can't figure out why."

"It's probably just the heat of the competition." Ezekiel placed a comforting hand awkwardly onto Trent's back. "That's… that's the right use of that phrase, right?" Trent nodded. "Okay, good."

Trent didn't seem to be feeling much better, though. The musician was looking over to the Bass, his brows furrowed in concern as he continued to wonder about Duncan's strange behaviour. That's when Ezekiel got an idea. "Hey! How about you teach me some more of those modern phrases, eh? So I don't mess up again!"

Almost immediately, Trent's expression lightened up, although there was still a concerned look hiding in his eyes. "Sure, Zeke. That sounds like a great idea."

**Confessionals Start**

"Duncan doesn't act all weird and nervous like that around anyone else…" Trent rubbed his eyes, as if doing so would remove the dark circles under them. There was the chirping of crickets outside, and it looked like he'd been there for hours, doing nothing but sitting and thinking. "Maybe his team had a talk with him? About how he shouldn't be so close with me? Yeah, that makes sense." He let out a loud sigh, before finally drifting off.

**Confessionals** **End**

・・・•・・・•

The Gophers had managed to create a large pile of assorted flammable objects in a relatively short amount of time. The sun was beginning to get closer to the horizon, however, and they still hadn't found a way to light it that actually worked. They'd tried flint, as well as rubbing two sticks together, but the brightest flame they could get was a mere spark.

The Bass, meanwhile, were having the opposite problem. Sure, they had the lighter, but with three less people on their team, it was a lot harder to gather things to add to their pile.

At this point in time, it was anyone's game.

LeShawna wasn't an idiot, however. She could see the suspicious looks and, on occasion, glares being shot her way by her teammates. The teen needed to make herself seem useful, and quick, if she had any chance of throwing off suspicion of her true loyalties before the next elimination challenge.

Whilst wandering amongst the trees looking for any possible food for her fire, she stumbled across a tree, dripping enough sap that it had created a small hill underneath its branches. "Perfect."

**Confessionals Start**

"I know it may not be expected of someone like me," LeShawna said, her hands behind her head, and one leg crossed over the other, "but I used to go out camping with the local scout group when I was little. You can learn a lot about how to start a quick and easy fire in those things."

**Confessionals** **End**

Whilst LeShawna was busy running back to the shore with as much sap as she could carry, the Gophers were all still busy, gathered around their non-fire, trying to figure out how on earth they would be making it _on _fire. Cody wasn't paying much attention to the ideas being thrown onto the table, instead trying to stare at Noah, but subtly.

The sun's rays got caught on the rim of Noah's glasses, reflecting into Cody's eyes. He let out a little 'ah!' of shock, before stumbling back a bit, causing a very confused Noah to put an arm around him so he wouldn't fall over.

"Are you okay?" He asked, even though Cody was very clearly alright. Cody, having a lightbulb moment, grabbed the sides of Noah's face, and if he weren't so focused on what he was doing he may have noticed how flushed the tanned teen suddenly looked. Instead, he pulled off his glasses, and tried to find where the Sun shone down on the strongest.

Finally, a small curl of smoke made its way out of the pile of wood. It rose up a few inches, before disappearing. Cody held the glasses in the position they were in, hoping that the fire would eventually spread to the rest of the material from wherever it was.

That's when LeShawna arrived back at her team's fire, all of the sap and other ingredients she had gathered along the way still in her arms. The Bass had managed to set their things on fire, however, it was still incredibly small.

"You're going to need something really good, really fast if you want to get back to camp first, Bass!" Chris called out from his helicopter up above. A wide grin spread across LeShawna's face as she walked over to the fire casually, as if she wasn't holding what she thought was the key to securing her place in the team (as well as a good massage).

"Lucky for you lot, I have arrived." The girl threw her handmade fire starter onto the flames, and instantly, everyone in her group was blasted backwards. A fiery red mushroom cloud rose high into the sky, almost sending Chris' helicopter off course.

"Have a cow…" The blast had been so big that even the Gophers had been affected by the shockwave from the blast. Ezekiel's normally neat, slicked back hair was blown backwards as if he had just flown through the air at high speeds, and Trent didn't look much better.

Chris let out a cough into his megaphone, clearly shocked by the blast. The poor intern stuck with piloting the helicopter hadn't been expecting it either, and was still trying to fly back into position. "Well, uh- woah, Jerry, be more careful, Christ- Bass, you better get going!"

The team in question wasted no time in grabbing their oars and their canoes, before chucking them into the water and heading back to Camp Wawanakwa. Just as they had begun to reach the fog, Cody finally succeeded in setting the rest of the firewood alight, and the Gophers began getting ready.

Noah was hanging out around the canoes as they were being pushed into the water, standing by in case Cody admitted he did, actually, really need help, when Heather came up to him. She tapped the taller teen nervously on the shoulder, and there was clearly something wrong. "What is it, Heather?"

"Well, I-I was just hoping you'd be my partner for the trip back…" She was playing with her pigtails, tying and untying them over and over again. "Lindsay says she's still kind of shaken up over the quicksand, a-and I would totally ask Gwen, but she's kinda busy with Geoff."

Noah glanced at the other girl to see her giving her new boyfriend a lovestruck look as he pushed their canoe out. "I can see what you mean. But, I'm with Cody, and-" He then looked over at Cody, only to find the boy deep in a conversation with Lindsay. Their eyes met, and the brunette looked away quickly, causing Noah to do the same. "You know what? Nevermind. I'll help you out."

"Thanks, Noah." There was a small, sad smile on Heather's face, one that Noah didn't pay much mind to as together, they pushed their canoe out, both wanting to finally end the challenge.

**Confessionals Start**

"Noah and Cody were getting awfully close," Lindsay filed away at her nails, a disinterested look in her eyes, "far too close for my liking, really. I'm fairly certain everyone on the island can see Cody's head-over-heels, except for Noah. That's good news for me, really, because that means all I have to say is one little thing and their whole pitiful friendship will come crumbling down." The blonde giggled politely into her hand, but there was a malicious look in her eyes.

**Confessionals End**

"So, Cody…" Lindsay was resting her oar over her lap, so that each end was being held up by the sides of the canoe. Cody was trying his best to paddle by himself, but he wasn't exactly the strongest. "Noah, huh?"

There was a flash of fear in his expression, before it went back to normal. "Y-Yeah? What about him?"

Lindsay giggled, throwing a few stray strands of her hair back behind her shoulder. "You know, you don't have to act like you don't like him. It's sort of obvious." Cody almost dropped his paddle from shock, but he managed to grab it just before it fell all the way into the lake.

"Is it really?" He asked, his teeth held tight together in a grimace. All he got in response was a raised eyebrow. Sighing, Cody finally looked Lindsay in the eye. "What do you wanna say about it, then?"

Lindsay picked up her oar and began rowing, believing they were far enough away from the others for their conversation to be at least somewhat private. "I was just making sure. I'm concerned, is all, that it wouldn't work out between you two."

"Huh?"

"I mean, you're Cody; kind, caring, thoughtful. I mean, you saved my life, as well as Heather's! Do you know what Noah was doing?" Before Cody could answer, Lindsay continued. "That's right: nothing! He didn't even look concerned for us, let alone you, you poor thing, swinging right into a tree like that must have hurt!"

Cody temporarily stopped rowing, instead trying to cover his face out of embarrassment. "You saw that?"

"Oh, Cody, I'm fairly certain everyone in Canada will be able to see that." The duo continued to slowly row back to camp, a new dreary mood following Cody like a rain cloud, whilst Lindsay was feeling more confident in her position in the game than ever before.

The fog began to clear up, and Lindsay looked around to check up on how her team was doing. Turns out they had rowed faster than she had thought: there was only a small distance between the rest of the Gophers and her canoe, and an even smaller one between the furthest Gophers and the Bass.

Quickly, the distances were cleared, and it was all neck-to-neck, each and every one of the canoes practically bumping sides they were that close. Oars hit oars as everyone went into a mad frenzy trying to get to the sandy shore first, the wood on occasion splintering and flying off in random directions.

By the time the first few boats reached their goal, their oars were practically pointed sticks, which Chris wasn't all too happy about. Something about having to spend more money from the budget if they ever needed more. Timmy was extremely pleased to be back at his somewhat safe home, whilst Noah was relieved to get Ness back, completely unharmed.

The last two boats were exactly who you'd expect. Lindsay and Cody of the Gophers, and Tyler, Duncan, and Beth of the Bass. Turns out having three people could really drag down your canoe, especially when one was busy staring off at his girlfriend, one was busy trying to chat to his friend, and the final one was too weak to do anything other than send it around in circles.

Cheers erupted from the sidelines, although the Gophers were far louder than their opposition, largely due to numbers. "Come on, Bass! I need that massage!" LeShawna screamed at the top of her lungs.

Duncan glanced over at the one thing standing between his team and the victory they needed desperately if they wanted to boost team morale. He noticed how loosely Cody was holding his oar, and decided to use that to his advantage.

Taking his oar and swinging it back as far as he could without hitting the left side of his canoe, Duncan launched Cody's oar out of his hands and into the water, causing it to float away into the fog and back to Boney Island. When Cody looked back at him, stony-faced and angry, the punk just shrugged his shoulders with a smug look on his face.

"And the Bass, by some miracle, win!" Chris declared from his helicopter above. He threw down a ladder through the hatch, but instead of coming down, he was ushering the winning team up the flimsy rope. "Now, we gotta get going, because I didn't expect this to take you guys so long we're almost running late!" Everyone made their way up the ladder, excited to finally get some proper care after all their time at the island.

Chef round up the remaining teams before ushering them off to the communal bathrooms, muttering about how much they stank like smoke and mud. Noah tried to talk to Cody on the way there, but he kept ignoring him, instead playing with his necklace.

Heather jogged alongside Noah as he begun to slow down, noting his confused expression. "Hey, Noah? Is everything, you know… cool beans? You seem kinda out of it."

"Yeah, of course I am. I'm sure it's nothing." The prep's confused expression instantly turned into one of indifference, but it wasn't enough to convince his sort-of friend. "You go ahead. After that quicksand you'll need a shower more than me anyway." Heather nodded and continued to jog ahead without him, although she couldn't help but feel bad.

**Confessionals Start**

"I'm starting to think Lindsay might not be as great as I thought." Heather was rocking herself back and forth lightly, the scratch marks on her chest glowing a brighter red than before as she tried to calm them down with a cloth she had wet with some water and soap. "Sure, she's still my best friend, but Noah seems really hurt. When she said she wanted to hurt his friendship with Cody, I didn't realise it would end up doing… whatever it is that's going on now. What did she even say, anyways?"

**Confessionals** **End**


	9. Paintball Deer Hunter

Everyone in the Gophers knew something was up. It was so obvious, even some of the Bass could see it. Cody was distancing himself from the others, and not even Noah, who was by far his closest friend, was allowed near him. In fact, he was the one whom he stayed away from the most.

Lindsay was the only one who he let talk to him, and even then he would never speak back. Everyone was growing increasingly worried as the days passed, until they were sprung on unexpectedly by something even more worrying in these trying times: a challenge.

"Morning, campers!" Chris announced into his microphone, the sound blasting through the speakers he had set up around the island as loud as they could go. Many campers were less than happy about their sudden awakening, not too dissimilar from the one they were given the day of the now infamous Awake-A-Thon.

LeShawna hit her head on her top bunk just as she had the time before, causing her to let out a loud growl. "I swear to the heavens, that bastard is getting on my last nerve!"

There was the familiar humming sound of a helicopter flying high above the cabins, the sound getting louder and louder until it was almost deafening. Attached to the bottom of it by a rope net was a large wooden crate, which was released into the open area below.

Chris hopped out of the helicopter using the rope ladder from inside, and despite how messy his hair was from the wind generated by the helicopter, he looked as spritely and television-ready as ever. "In case you haven't already noticed, today you will all be competing in a challenge! Before we continue, please go take a shower, all of you. You all wreak!"

Lindsay tapped on the wooden frame of her bunk bed with her fingernails, urging Heather to stick her head out from underneath. "Heat up the shower for me, my legs are still asleep." Her words were slurred together due to her sleepiness, but the shorter girl still ran off to do as she was asked.

The blonde looked out of the window next to her bed that overlooked the open area. Trent and Ezekiel were already standing in front of the crate, probably because they'd gotten up early, just as they always did. Everyone else was exiting the cabins and heading off to the communal bathrooms, except for one.

Quickly, Lindsay tossed herself off her bunk bed, shoved on a jacket, combed her hair, and snuck to the boy's side of the Gophers cabin. As she had thought, Cody was still in his bed, the covers pulled over his head. As much as she tried to remain emotionally distant (after all, she was trying to manipulate the sucker), the sorry sight almost made her feel pity for him.

She climbed the ladder up to the top, and took a seat at the end of Cody's bed, her legs dangling off the side. There was a rustling noise, which was all she needed to hear to know he hadn't miraculously slept through Chris' alarm. "Hey, Cody. I know you're awake."

There was a sigh, before Cody sat up. To say he looked horrible was an understatement. There were tear tracks on his face, some a few days old, the whites of his eyes were a light red, and his hair was sticking up in every possible angle. The boy hadn't made much of an effort in looking after himself ever since the last challenge, and it really showed.

"You haven't been looking after yourself, have you?" He shook his head ever so slightly. If she hadn't been watching, Lindsay may not have realised he had reacted at all. "Have you at least been doing, you know, basic things? Drinking water, eating food?" A nod, this time even more subtle.

The two sat in silence for a while. Cody wasn't looking at Lindsay directly; he felt like he couldn't. He was so tired, even though almost all he'd been doing was sleeping, and every single bit of him felt like it was covered in some sort of slimy substance that he couldn't get off. It irked him.

"You're going to have to come out soon. We have a challenge today." Lindsay finally said, turning around so she could begin climbing down the ladder.

"I know." Cody managed to croak out. For a split second, Lindsay was shocked. His voice sounded just as bad as he looked. It was almost like he was speaking into a broken walkie talkie, every single syllable broken and crackly. "I just don't know what to say when I see him."

Tears began to crawl down his cheeks again, and Lindsay quickly climbed back up. This darn kid, making her actually feel bad. It was so stupid. "Hey, what are you doing? Don't cry, oh Cody, don't cry!" The next thing she knew, she was holding Cody in her arms, shushing him as he tried to hold back his sobs. "Is this what you've been doing? Crying over him?" A nod. "Damn it, Cody, he's a jerk. Why do you care about him so much?"

"I just… We got along so well, you know? Or at least, I thought we did." Cody sniffed, wiping away his tears. "But if all that stuff you're saying is really true, then…" He was so frail and fragile in her arms, it was hard to believe that this was the same optimistic and lively teen that had been willing to risk himself to save two people he didn't even really know.

"Of course it is, Cody, why would I want to lie to you?" Lindsay gave him a soft pat on the head before pulling away and getting off the bed. "You've got to get ready though, and besides, if you do see him, you can just ignore him. It's what you've been doing for the past few days, so that shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"Yeah… okay." Cody ran a hand through his hair and forced a smile. All the light that had been within him was gone. He looked half-dead, like he'd been ripped in half so that all that remained of him was a shell.

**Confessionals Start**

"If I knew Cody was going to look and act that pitiful before I started this mess, I probably would've told him something less soul-crushing than 'your crush doesn't give two shits about you.'" Lindsay huffed, blowing a strand of blonde hair from out of her eyes. "I mean, seriously, the kid looks like a zombie. It's unnerving."

"Whether Cody likes it or not, I _am _going to get him to talk to me in one way or another." Noah had his head in his hands, and Ness was nuzzling into his side in an attempt to comfort him. "I just- I don't get it! Was it something I did? Because you'd think he would have told me if it was! Or maybe he's caught on to the fact that I…" The boy let out a loud groan, effectively cutting himself off.

"I don't have the faintest idea as to what's going on with the Gophers right now, but I haven't seen Cody leave his cabin in three days." Timmy was pulling at some especially long strands of hair on Beth's head. Her bob was choppy, as if she'd cut it herself without a mirror. "It's troubling, to say the least."

**Confessionals End**

•・・・•・・・•

"Are you guys ready for today's extreme! Max-impact! Challenge!" Chris cheered once everyone had managed to make it outside. Ezekiel looked ready to cheer back with the same amount of energy, but decided against it upon seeing the not-so positive response the host had gotten.

"Loving the enthusiasm." The host sighed. An intern ran up to him and handed him a crowbar as if it were a royal sceptre, before running off again. Chris then proceeded to open up the crate with the tool, revealing what lay inside. "This is breakfast." He reached inside and began pulling out cans of beans, tossing one to each camper.

"Uh, no, this isn't." LeShawna rolled her eyes, holding the can away from her. "Breakfast is something more, oh, I dunno, edible. I can't eat un-microwaved canned beans, are you crazy? Chef's burned seagull eggs are more edible than this shit!"

"Look, do you want food or not?" Any trace of a grin disappeared from Chris' face, and instantly LeShawna became quiet, holding the can closer to her body. "That's better. Today's challenge is about survival. We're going hunting!" Chris then proceeded to pull out a bright green gun from the crate, holding it up for everyone to see.

"I would say that's more like it," Duncan had one end of his unibrow raised, eyeing the gun warily, "but that is very clearly a paintball gun."

"Why yes, Duncan, it is." Chris shot a paintball at Duncan's chest, smearing blue paint all over the skull logo on his shirt and knocking him back a few steps. "So luckily for DJ, there won't be any killing today." The teen in question breathed a sigh of relief. "This is the first ever paintball deer hunt! I'll be announcing the teams once we get into the woods. So… finish brekkie!"

Everyone began splitting up into groups as the host headed off towards the woods, more than willing to express their feelings about the new challenge with their friends. None were more excited about this than Beth, who was very pleased by the new chance she had to eliminate LeShawna to finally complete Operation Avenge Harold.

Before Duncan could begin a conversation with Trent and Ezekiel, Beth pulled him over into the huddle she'd started with Tyler and DJ. "This better be important, Velma, because I swear to god-"

"It _is_. We're all trying to get LeShawna out, right?" Beth looked around at the others in the group, then glanced over to LeShawna, who was chatting idly away with Lindsay and a very quiet and almost sad-looking Heather.

"Oh, after the stuff she's pulled? Definitely." DJ nodded. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if she were working with the other team, and Lindsay in particular."

"Yeah!" Tyler said, just a little too loud before lowering his voice to a whisper upon receiving some weird looks from other campers. "I-I mean, who does that, anyways? Sure, it's fine to have friends, even date, outside the team, but betraying your team is a whole other thing!"

**Confessionals Start**

"Oh, I hope I didn't sound too nervous when saying that." Tyler ran a hand through his silky soft hair, his shoulders tense. "Was it obvious I was lying? Do I need to tell Lindsay they're beginning to realise something's up? That's what a good boyfriend… a good alliance member would do, right?"

**Confessionals End**

Noah looked longingly over at Cody, who was standing all by himself with his arms crossed and his head hanging low. Gwen walked over and planted a hand on his back, bringing him back to reality. "How are you doing?"

The tan teen studied Gwen's eyes for a bit, as if expecting some sort of malice in them, before letting out a heavy sigh. "I'd be doing better if I knew what was up with him."

"I think we all would, to be honest." The two of them looked back at Cody, who had begun to walk off into the woods, trailing a couple feet behind Lindsay and her group. "I can't help but feel like Lindsay's involved."

"And I can't help but agree." Noah said. Their conversation was cut short by Geoff wrapping an arm around Gwen's back so his hand rested on her hip, giving her a short peck on the cheek before saying they needed to go. And so they did.

•・・・•・・・•

Everyone gathered around Chris and the interns who were finalising touches to the giant gun rack they had gotten from the bottom of the crate, carefully sidestepping two boxes full of gear. As soon as they were done, Chris turned around to face the campers with his signature grin on his face, just as sinister as usual.

"Now for the team breakdowns!" The host grabbed a red gun in his hands and tossed it over to Tyler, before grabbing another one. "The Killer Bass hunters will be DJ and Tyler! Good luck boys, because you're gonna need it. Those guns are filled with twenty orange paint bullets, so be careful not to use them all up at once.

"And now the Gopher hunters! Geoff, Gwen, Cody, and Lindsay!" He grabbed four green guns and flung them in the four's general direction, not particularly caring whether they caught them or not. "To even it out a little, you guys have ten blue bullets instead of twenty.

"To top it off, all you hunters get these stylish camo hats with matching snazzy glasses!" Chris let out a chuckle as he popped a cap onto his head. "The rest of you, however, will now be deer." He reached into a box next to the one that was overflowing with caps and glasses.

"Here are your antlers, your red noses, and…" Chris had pulled out what looked like some arts and crafts project made by a seven year old for Christmas and a stale red lolly, before clipping something around his waist. He then turned around once again, trying to keep his eye on the contestants as best as he could. "Your little white tails!"

"There is _no way_ I'm a deer!" Duncan scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Take these off and your team is toast!" Chris grinned, shoving one of the noses and antler hats onto Duncan's head, as well as a pair of the orange visors. "Bass shoot Gophers, Gophers shoot Bass, but I'm sure that was self explanatory. Now the deer will be getting a head start, so you lot better use it wisely!"

The deer grouped together before running off into the woods in different directions, although one side seemed far more enthusiastic than the other. Whilst the Gophers were running away at a steady pace, the Bass seemed to be taking a leisurely walk down the most revealing path they could.

Beth was at the head of the small group, with LeShawna trailing behind. The detective wannabe could still very clearly see the clearing where they'd been assigned their groups behind them, and up ahead the path disappeared into low hanging trees and overgrown bushes.

As soon as the hunters were mere dots in the distance, LeShawna took a turn off the path, and away from her teammates. "Well, I'm heading back to camp. You guys are free to join if you wanna win, but if not…" The girl shrugged, as if she couldn't care less about the outcome of the challenge.

"We're good, thanks." Duncan snarled, his head held up high and away from who he was talking to, almost as if it were directed to Beth instead so she could agree. She did, of course, and together they headed deeper into the woods.

The two found a large collection of bushes all relatively close to each other, with their branches spread far enough apart that they could sneak through and still remain relatively unseen from the outside. They crawled in, more than willing to let their feet rest. After a short while of silence, Beth spoke up. "We should talk about how we're going to throw the challenge."

Duncan, who had had his head in his hands so he could rest, and, maybe, go to sleep, looked up. "I'm sorry, we're going to what?"

"Throw the challenge. It is what we all agreed on, after all." Beth's eyes narrowed.

"Look, Four Eyes, I didn't agree to anything of the sort!" Duncan snapped. "I said I'd help you boot off that traitor, not _throw_ _challenges_! In case you weren't aware, we've got three less people than the Gophers right now!"

"Yeah, and it's because of her! If we get rid of LeShawna now, then we don't have to worry about her interference again!"

"But then our team will be half the size of the other's! You aren't thinking this through. For all we know, the next four challenges are all elimination rounds, and if we throw this one just to get rid of her, then there's no way we'd be able to win."

"Fine then, if you're not going to help me out, then you can stay here. I'm leaving." Before Duncan could say anything else, Beth had stood up and crawled out of the bushes, already heading back to camp. "Operation Avenge Harold ends today." She grabbed her antlers and her deer nose and pulled them off, throwing them aside.

As soon as she had, there was a distant cracking sound, like a bad microphone being turned on. "And the Bass already lose one third of their deer! Thought it may have taken longer, but then again I also thought it would be Duncan, so what do I know."

The deer had already split up into groups, with DJ and Tyler, Geoff and Gwen, Lindsay and Cody all heading off in different directions from on another. Letting out a sigh, DJ began to pick up the pace. "I told her it would be a bad idea…"

"Told who what?" Tyler asked, now jogging in an attempt to not be left behind.

"Beth. She wanted to throw today's challenge to get LeShawna out." Before Tyler could ask another question, DJ continued. "She knows we have a major disadvantage in terms of numbers, but she's convinced getting rid of LeShawna will solve everything- I've told her it won't, but she refuses to listen to reason."

The two continued to look around for deer in silence, until another question popped up in Tyler's mind. "If you don't mind me asking, when did she become so…"

"Obsessed?" The jock nodded. "Ever since Harold was eliminated, she's been… almost off, in a way. Before she was focused on setting up other campers, like a matchmaker, but after Harold was voted off she's been dead-set on finding out who was behind it all.

"Now that we know it's LeShawna, there's all this tension that's been piling up inside of her, and what made it worse for her was probably the fact that we found out only after we voted off Katie. She wants to 'avenge Harold', but she can't."

"That's kind of sad…" Tyler pursed his lips, now standing still with his gun resting in both hands. "We should split up; cover more ground."

If DJ noticed the sudden change of subject, he refused to pay attention to it. "Yeah, good idea. You go back, I'll head deeper into the woods." They exchanged nods of confirmation before parting ways.

**Confessionals Start**

"I need to tell my sweetheart Lindsay," Tyler scratched at the back of his neck nervously, "I know how close she and LeShawna are after all, and she probably wouldn't take it too well if she were kicked off."

**Confessionals** **End**

At that moment, however, Lindsay had a far larger problem; that problem's name was Cody. Somewhere along the path they had taken, weaving through the wilderness, he had begun mumbling to himself about Noah, before breaking down into tears and crawling up into a ball up against a tree. He was now refusing to move, which was making this whole challenge far more difficult than Lindsay thought it needed to be.

Now the two were seated next to each other, Lindsay filing away at her nails so they could remain perfectly pointed, Cody still sobbing his heart out. Their guns lay on the ground, discarded and forgotten. There was a rustling in the bushes behind them, but neither cared.

Heather stepped out, her antlers lopsided and covered in twigs and tiny little leaves. Before she said anything, she took a look at what was happening, and instead decided to sit down next to Lindsay. The blonde gave her ally a quick glance, before looking back down at her nails.

"Now that you're here, I want you to get me some chips." Lindsay switched which hand she was filing, blowing at her fingernails to make sure they were clean right in Heather's face. The smaller teen stifled a sneeze in an attempt to make sure no one else heard them. "Make sure they're barbecue, and no, I will not accept any other flavour. Chef should have some in his kitchen."

Cody had stopped crying now, and was listening to what they were saying. "But… won't that be dangerous? I could get caught!" Heather whispered, adjusting her red nose so it wouldn't come off.

"Yeah, but I've got to look after Cody. The sucker can't look after himself, not in the state he's in." The brunette wiped away his tears, before grabbing his gun as silently as he could manage. Making sure neither girl saw him, he ran off in the woods, hoping he would manage to find a way back to camp.

Lindsay was sending Heather a glare that, if looks could kill, would have the capability to kill more people with one glance than a snake's venom. Heather caved in, quickly getting up and running to the dining hall as fast as her legs could carry her.

**Confessionals Start**

"I understand Lindsay's got a reputation with the other contestants to uphold," Cody said, chewing at his necklace, "and that means she would have to talk ill of me behind my back like she says they do, but I was right there! It really, really hurt. If I had thought summer camp would be like eighth grade, I wouldn't have signed up, man."

**Confessionals End**

Noah was trying his best to avoid stepping in particularly muddy areas of the woods whilst also keeping an eye out for food. Beans were, unsurprisingly, not the most fulfilling breakfast, so both he and Ness were starving. Finally, the two stumbled across a blueberry bush, covered in ripe berries.

They were so busy trying to collect their morning tea (or at least, Noah was) that neither of them paid much attention to the rustling of the bushes around them. When Noah bent down to feed Ness a few of the smaller berries, the person hiding away amongst the branches and leaves took aim.

"Ah!" Noah let out a scream, trying to keep the noise down so no one else would find out he was there. "What the…" He looked down to where he'd been shot, only to see a splatter of blue paint across his pant leg.

"Noah? Is that you?" Noah swivelled around and there, in the bushes, he spotted an orange beanie. He walked over and peered in, and there was the rest of the boy. Cody.

"Why did you shoot me?" Noah hissed, picking up Ness and holding them in his arms. Cody scratched at the back of his neck nervously.

"I, uh, thought you might have been on the other team…" The more the brunette spoke, the more Noah realised how broken he sounded, as if he would begin crying any second now, "These glasses, the orange makes it kinda hard to see. Especially with all the leaves in the road. Sorry, I'll go now-"

"No, you won't," Noah grabbed Cody's arm before he could run off, trying his best to maintain a firm grip whilst also holding up his rabbit. Slowly, as if one wrong move would cause his friend to attack him, Cody brought his necklace up to his mouth and began chewing on it lightly. "We need to talk."

Despite the necklace still in his mouth, Cody tried to speak, "What is there to talk about?"

"You avoiding me! And everyone else. After last challenge, all you did in bed, and you only let Lindsay speak to you. I miss you, Cody!" Ness had crawled up Noah's arm and down the back of his jacket, popping their head out of the neckline so they could still breathe.

Cody started at Noah in silence for a while, as if he was trying to figure out whether he was telling the truth or not. Just as Noah let go of his arm, he pulled the ever so slightly shorter teen in for a hug, holding him tight like he was afraid to lose him. Once Noah got over his initial shock, he hugged Cody back.

There was a choked sobbing noise, and although he couldn't see his face, Noah could feel the warm tears begin to soak through his jacket. "I miss you too," Cody managed to force out, squeezing Noah tighter.

A small squeak came out from Noah's jacket, and the two boys quickly pulled away, both of them slightly flustered. Ness crawled out from the jacket and head butted Noah lightly in the cheek out of annoyance, causing him to laugh. Looking back down at the paint on his leg, the tan teen let out a sigh. "You don't think-"

"Yes, friendly fire does count!" Chris' voice could be heard from somewhere in the distance and Noah simply let out a sigh in response.

"Well then, since I'm out of the game, do you wanna walk around a bit? Maybe talk, if you're feeling up to it?" He watched Cody shift from foot to foot, chewing his necklace particularly hard once, before realising what he was doing and spitting it out.

"Yeah, sure! I'd, uh, I'd like that." Cody bent down and grabbed his gun, which he'd thrown on the ground when going to hug his friend before, and together they walked off into the woods, sharing a couple blueberries along the way.

**Confessionals** **Start**

"Do I entirely trust Noah again?" Cody nibbled at his necklace pendant out of habit. "No. But hopefully the talk can clear things up; maybe Lindsay just caught him at the wrong time or something."

**Confessionals** **End**

•・・・•・・・•

Heather looked around wearily, trying her best to make sure Chef wasn't anywhere near the dining hall. As soon as she was certain the coast was clear, she snuck in, sticking close to the walls as he crawled across the ground and towards the kitchen area. Occasionally there would be a noise, most often a creak of the floorboards, and Heather would almost freak out and run away, but she needed to get those chips for Lindsay, no matter what.

As soon as there were no more windows to duck under, she made a run for the kitchen. The short teen threw open the pantry door, and began digging through the different foods. Although she found it strange that Chef had all this edible food that he never used, Heather decided not to question it.

Finally, she found what she was looking for. Grabbing the bag of barbecue chips, Heather snuck out of the kitchen as fast as she could, only to hear the door to the dining hall open. The girl dove under the closest table she could, scraping her elbows against the wooden floor.

Chef came in, whistling a tune that Heather didn't recognise. Wiping his grubby hands, covered in lord knows what, on his apron, he made his way down to the kitchen. "What the…" In her haste to get out before anyone noticed her, Heather had forgotten to close the pantry door.

Before the menacing man could turn around and begin searching for the culprit, Heather ran out of the dining hall, slamming the door behind her. Trying to keep her antlers upright, the girl ran so fast it was almost as if she had turned into a deer, almost tripping over on many occasions on small tree roots or other things.

Meanwhile, Tyler was heading for the exact same destination. He was taking a little longer, considering he didn't actually have any idea where Lindsay was, but finally he found his blonde girlfriend looking around with her brows furrowed, sitting with one leg over the other on top of a rock.

Panting, he finally stopped, letting his paintball gun slip through his fingers. "Lindsay… I have… info…" he managed to get out, bending over with his hands on his knees.

The blonde girl raised an eyebrow. "What is it, babe?" There was a sense of intrigue in her voice.

"Beth is… trying to get LeShawna voted off."

Lindsay flinched, her nails letting out a shrill scraping noise as they curled up against the rock she was sitting on. One of her eyes twitched as she said, "You can't let that happen."

The jock nodded in confirmation, just as Heather burst from the bushes behind Lindsay. "I have the chips!" She cried, quickly throwing them at the blonde's feet as if holding them any longer would burn her.

Sighing, Lindsay picked up the packet and opened it, popping one chip into her mouth. "Thank goodness something is going right for me today. Heather, I need you to do another thing for me." Heather stood up straight, giving her ally her full attention. "Cody's gone running off somewhere, and I want you to find him. Tyler, you too."

"B-but… Tyler's a hunter, Lindsay." Heather stuttered, looking cautiously at the paintball gun on the ground.

"So? It's not like he's going to shoot you, we're in an alliance, remember?" Lindsay rolled her eyes as she continued to eat her chips, sliding off the rock she was seated on and onto the ground so she could lie down. "Now please go, I'm tired, and we can't let Cody and Noah talk if we want my plan to work."

Heather and Tyler exchanged nervous glances, heading back into the woods, but not before Tyler kicked his gun into the bushes so it couldn't be spotted as easily. They walked in silence, searching high and low for Cody, hoping silently that he hadn't managed to run into Noah yet.

**Confessionals Start**

"Do either of us know what Lindsay's planning?" Tyler asked, running a hand through his hair.

"No. No we do not." Heather sighed, her knees pulled up to her chest so they could fit into the confessional properly.

**Confessionals End**

Cody and Noah managed to find a clearing where they could rest, tossing away the overripe blueberries they had behind them. "Hey, check it out!" Cody pointed at a pile of blueberries inside a nearby cave. "Someone must've been here recently. Do you think they'd mind if we took some of their food?"

Noah shrugged, and so they walked over to the pile of berries and began picking out the best ones for eating. Then, there was a growling sound from inside. The two exchanged confused glances, then worried ones as there was the sound of footsteps. Very heavy footsteps.

They looked up, coming face-to-face with a big brown grizzly bear. "Hey, big fella!" Cody said, backing away slowly, Noah not too far behind, "Want some berries?" The bear let out a loud roar, and the brunette would have run away right then if Noah didn't grab his arm, stopping him. "Dude, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to climb onto your shoulders."

"What?"

"Don't question it, just let me do it."

Cody looked back up at the bear, who was slowly getting closer, a murderous look in it's beady black eyes as it stood up tall on its hind legs, then back at Noah. Even if he had a choice, there was no way he could say no to him, and he knew that. _Stupid crush_. He nodded, and Noah climbed up onto his shoulders.

When they stood up at full height, Noah managed to be at eye level with the bear, which was already enough to make it begin to back down. That was all they needed, as it gave them enough time to run far enough away that the bear wouldn't be able to get them. Noah jumped down from Cody's shoulders, pain shooting up through his ankles as he landed funny, but the happy chirps from Ness and the relieved look on Cody's face made the pain seem like it didn't matter at all.

"Oh my god, I thought we were going to die." Cody said, rubbing his own shoulders. He already looked like he could barely hold four kilos, but now it was as if supporting his own weight was a challenge.

"Here, let me help you." Ness crawled out of Noah's jacket and hopped onto the ground as Noah went behind Cody, resting his hands on the other boy's shoulders.

As Noah began to rub circles into Cody's back, the brunette's mind wandered off. "Hey, Noah? How did you know how to get the bear to back down?" He asked, leaning into the other boy's touch.

"I ran out of my own books to read one time, and one of my brothers had left his survivalist handbook out. It's not a particularly interesting story." Cody hummed, looking up at Noah. Their eyes met, and Noah began to lean down, when Heather and Tyler came bursting out of the bushes.

"There you are!" Heather squealed, clearly happy that they'd managed to find Cody. Instantly, Noah and Cody jumped apart, and Ness ran behind Noah out of fear and surprise because of the intruders.

"Lindsay is looking for you, Cody!" Tyler said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "She seemed kinda upset you left. You can bring Noah if you want, but we gotta go. This way!" Tyler grabbed Heather's hand as she tried to usher the two boys along, dragging her along.

Noah and Cody just stood there in confusion for a bit, until Ness had had enough of waiting around and tapped Noah impatiently on the ankle with their paw. "I, uh, guess we should go then, huh?" Noah asked, his eyes flitting to the ground self-consciously.

"Yeah, I guess we should." Cody chuckled nervously. As soon as Ness was back in Noah's arms, the two headed off in the direction they'd seen Heather and Tyler run off in.

•・・・•・・・•

Duncan had managed to sneak back to the cabins and grab one of his spray paint cans, and was now spraying the logo from his shirt onto a tree in the forest with bright red. From behind, he could hear the snapping of twigs and crunching of leaves.

"Fancy seeing you here." Duncan stopped spraying onto the tree to turn around and face Trent. There was a smile on his face, and a cheery look in his green eyes. "How much longer do you think we have left?"

"I don't know man, but you could always head back to the cabins. LeShawna did a while back, and I think she's fine, so, you know." The delinquent shrugged.

"Cool, thanks dude." Trent began to walk off, when Duncan stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh… camp, duh."

"No, camp's that way." Duncan pointed in the opposite direction to the way Trent had been heading.

"Sure, whatever dude." Trent rolled his eyes, a playful smirk on his face. He continued to walk forward, with Duncan heading the other way, when they bumped into each other. When the two tried to back away from each other, they discovered something. Their antlers were stuck together.

No matter which way they moved, their antlers stayed stuck, causing both of them to feel at least a little annoyed. "Are we going to take these antlers off, or what?" Trent asked, already moving so he could pull off his own.

"And risk losing the challenge? Fuck no, dude." Duncan deadpanned. They continued to pull back and forth, trying to untangle themselves in some other way, but nothing worked. After finally giving up, Duncan decided he'd at least strike up a friendly conversation. "You play ukulele and are into stuff like that, right?"

"Yeah…?" Trent looked up at his friend in confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"You wanna talk about indie music?"

Meanwhile, Ezekiel was crawling through the bushes, trying his hardest not to be seen. When working on his farm, he'd learned how to hunt. Sort of. So he thought that since he knew how to hunt, he'd also know how to hide, which he apparently did, since no one had shot him yet.

Whilst munching away at a particularly tall patch of grass, the prairie boy had accidentally hit something with his foot. He looked down and saw one of the Bass' guns. "Oh, sweet, eh!" He whispered to himself, picking the gun up.

Nearby, voices could be heard. Ezekiel, intrigued, popped his head out of the bush he was hiding in whilst making sure to remain as hidden as he could. There, walking past, was four blobs. He knew his vision had been getting pretty bad lately, but his dad had refused to take him to an optometrist. Cocking his paintball gun, Ezekiel took aim and fired.

There was a high-pitched scream, followed by the sound of someone running away, but Ezekiel continued to press down on the trigger. Apparently he was still hitting something, so he continued to fire with his gun until he ran out of bullets. He soon found out that may have been the wrong course of action.

"What the absolute hell, dude?" Ezekiel hadn't really registered the fact he'd closed his eyes until that moment, so to say he was shocked when he saw Lindsay, Cody, Noah, and Heather all looking down at him with less than pleased looks on their faces, dripping in paint, would be an understatement.

"Oh, I didn't realise I was shooting at you guys… Sorry, eh?" Ezekiel let out a nervous laugh, but his four teammates remained unamused. Before they could say anymore, however, there was the distant sound of a microphone crackling.

"Attention, human wildlife, and hunters!" Chris called, "It's time to show your hides and tally up the scores!"

•・・・•・・・•

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Chris said, walking up and down the line that the campers had formed. "Stealing from Chef. Trying to throw the challenge. Almost getting mauled by bears! Do you know what I see here?" The contestants all shared nervous glances with one another. "I see a very undisciplined group, I see a disgraceful mess, I see a massive waste of paint product!

"And, I have to say," Chris glared at each of the campers, causing some of them to shrink under his gaze, "That. Was. Awesome!" The host let out a laugh, causing tears to form in the corner of his eyes. "When you went all commando trying to steal a bag of chips? Oh man, who knew you had it in you, Heather!" Heather went from scared to beaming in a matter of seconds, glad she could make someone proud.

Geoff looked around, scratching the back of his head. "Hey, where are Duncan and Trent?" He asked. Gwen, whilst trying to hide a smirk, nudged him in the side and pointed to the woods, where the two teens in question were trying their best to not trip over their own feet, still attached by the antlers.

"Oh, this is _too much_." Gwen giggled, a few of the other campers joining in. Ezekiel rushed over to assist in untangling his friends, whilst Geoff and Gwen's giggling turned into full-blown laughter.

"Well, since four member of the Gophers are dripping in paint, and some of them aren't even deer, I think we have our winners!" Everyone on the Bass, except for Beth, who looked quite unhappy with the results, let out cheers of victory. "To a hunting camp shindig!"

As the Bass walked back to their cabin, Chris turned to the remaining eight. "Gophers… I'll see you at the campfire ceremony. Took you all long enough." Then the host walked off, leaving them all to disperse. Cody began to follow Noah, when Lindsay grabbed him and pulled him to the side.

"Where did you go? I looked everywhere for you!" Lindsay said. So maybe it wasn't the whole truth, but she did send Tyler and Heather after him, which was probably good enough.

"Look, Lindsay, I understand you have a reputation and all to uphold, but," Cody took in a deep breath, bringing his pendant up to his mouth so he could chew on it lightly, "you kind of called me a sucker behind my back. I, uh, didn't really appreciate it, you know? I may be coming off as sensitive or whatever, but-"

"Oh, no, Cody, that's entirely okay! I won't do anything like that again, okay?" Cody smiled and nodded, and Lindsay almost let a genuine smile of her own slip onto her face.

"Thanks, Lindsay." Cody turned away, jogging to catch up with Noah.

**Confessionals Start**

"Am I mad my original plan isn't going the way I wanted it to?" Lindsay played with a lock of her golden hair, a miffed look on her face. "Perhaps. But no one needs to know that. As long as Cody trusts me, I'll have three votes against whoever I choose, and tonight? Ezekiel is going home. That _dickhead_ got paint all over me!"

**Confessionals End**

•・・・•・・・•

"There are only seven marshmallows on this plate," Chris said, a relaxed look on his face. Seeing the Bass at the campfire ceremony so many times in a row was enough to make him stressed that they'd lose all their members before they even reached his future surprise. "When I call your name, come up and collect your marshmallow. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately return to the Dock of Shame, catch the Boat of Losers, and leave.

"Geoff, Noah, Cody, Trent, Lindsay, and Heather, you are all safe." The six campers who had their names called out were more than happy to catch their own symbols of immunity.

"Hey, hold on!" Gwen said, "Why did I get any votes? I haven't done anything wrong!" Trent scoffed and rolled his eyes, but everyone else was silent.

**Confessionals Start**

"I know I threw away my vote," Trent said, his arms crossed, "but I wasn't going to miss a chance to vote for Gwen. I mean, come on."

**Confessionals End**

"Campers, this is the final marshmallow tonight." Chris said, tossing his plate into a waiting intern's hands as he held it up above the flame. "I'm fairly certain the majority of you already know who'll be going home, so I don't see much point in making this all that dramatic.

"Gwen, you're safe." Gwen caught her marshmallow happily, before giving Geoff a little kiss on the cheek and hugging him. "Ezekiel, the Dock of Shame awaits bro."

Sighing, Ezekiel got up and headed off, the only person waving him goodbye and wishing him good luck being Trent. As he headed down the path, everyone got up and went back to the cabins.

In the girls' side of the Bass cabin, LeShawna was already fast asleep. Beth leaned over the side of her bed to grab the pouch she normally wore around her waist, unclipping the flap so she could get the mini torch, notepad, and pen she had inside. She quickly hid back under the covers, and begun to devise the perfect plan to get LeShawna kicked off, laughing to herself the whole time.


	10. If You Can't Take The Heat

Duncan and Trent walked down the path, deep in conversation. "So my cousin Allie is, like, super into this garageband from her town a couple miles away," Duncan said, before pointing to the logo on his chest, "and for my birthday last year she gave me this shirt. She said it's 'cause the lead singer has the same one on his beanie."

"That's super sweet." Trent smiled, causing his friend to turn away to hide how his cheeks were turning red. "I'm guessing you two are pretty close?"

"Yeah, have been ever since-" _Shit, I can't tell Trent about my sister. He'd probably think I'm a weirdo or something. Why do I care so much anyways? _"Ever since she was born, really. She turns ten this September."

"Didn't realise you were such a softie," Trent chuckled, "but I'll have to check them out. Maybe you could take me to a concert, or something." Duncan could feel his ears turn red._ It would be totally platonic, _he reminded himself, _you and Trent are just good friends,_ _there's nothing special about _any _of this_.

"Totally, yeah." The two smiled at each other, when something in the corner of his eye caught Duncan's attention. "Did you see that?" He asked, turning around to see what it was.

"See what?" Trent turned to see what his friend was looking at, but all he could see was Chris' cabin.

"I thought…" Duncan shook his head. "It was probably nothing. Let's head to the dining hall, see if we can catch Chef in a good mood." Trent laughed at his joke, and the two headed off.

Duncan had seen something, however. Beth let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, before nodding at Timmy. The raccoon signed something to her, causing the detective wannabe to get angry. "Timmy, watch your language. Just because Duncan thought it would be funny to teach you how to spell out swear words, doesn't mean you should use them. And Operation: Avenge Harold is _not _dumb, it is in fact incredibly important!"

When the brunette's back was turned, Timmy blew a raspberry at her, before following her lead and heading into the cabin through a partially open window. Landing on the wooden flooring below, she let out a quiet 'oof', getting up quickly and looking around to make sure no one had heard her. As soon as she was certain the coast was clear, she ushered Timmy out the door of the room she had landed in.

The poor little raccoon was quite overwhelmed by the size of the cabin, being more used to the smaller ones that the campers had been given. He quickly adjusted, and was soon hopping around into every hiding place he could find like a miniature spy. His mission? To find the room where Chris had his ideas for future challenges.

Finally, Timmy stumbled upon a suspicious looking door with a big yellow sign on it, which he could not read, for he was a raccoon. But there was a blue light coming from the gap between the door and the floor, so he thought that accounted for something. Jumping up as high as he could, Timmy grabbed the handle and pushed it down, opening the door and revealing what lay within.

Monitors lined every wall, each side of the room being covered up to the ceiling. There was a table that was attached to three of the walls, notepads and documents littered all over its surface. On the one empty wall, there were crumpled up balls of paper, red marks covering what little of the front of the papers Timmy could make out.

Trying his best not to get distracted by all the new sights and smells, Timmy leaped up onto the tabletop, collecting anything that looked potentially useful. Then, a whirring noise. The raccoon looked over at the door and saw, shuffling along the floor, a Roomba. Beth told him that Chris had eyes everywhere, but he hadn't thought that he would have spies in his own cabin!

Putting the notepads and sheets of paper in between his teeth, Timmy jumped down from the table and ran, headfirst, into the little robot vacuum. The Roomba was flipped onto its back, causing it to beep in agony, and Timmy ran back the way he had come as fast as his little raccoon paws could carry him.

He ran back into the room he and Beth had landed in and quickly hopped out of the window, Beth following soon after, albeit with much less grace than her furry friend. They ran as fast as they could back to the other cabins, as if Chris was on their tails, even though he most certainly was not.

The two of them ran into the girl's side of the Bass cabin, nearly knocking Trent and Duncan over in the process. "Hey, watch where you're going, Four Eyes!" Duncan yelled after her, but she was already inside. The delinquent muttered something under his breath, before continuing to head over to the Gophers' cabin with Trent.

"Thanks for walking with me this morning, Duncan. I know you're not exactly an early bird." Trent said as he climbed the steps to the cabin.

Duncan shrugged. "It's no big deal. The woods are dangerous, Zeke's gone, it's cool." A puff of air came from Trent, almost like a laugh, but not quite, and he opened the door to the boy's side of the Gopher cabin to a very unwelcome surprise.

You see, Geoff and Trent had been engaging in a series of small-scale pranks on each other of the malicious variety, each one progressively getting worse than the last. However, none of the previous pranks had been as bad as the one that Geoff had just played on Trent, all in the name of embarrassing the budding musician as much as he'd embarrassed Gwen at the talent show.

Geoff held surprisingly strong grudges.

"Ha! You totally fell for it, dude!" Geoff laughed, watching egg yolk of unknown origin drip down Trent's chin from under the steel bucket on his head. Trent tried to pull the bucket off, but it was stuck on tight, and Duncan had to help him out.

Glaring at the taller blonde sitting on the bed in front of him, Trent huffed, wiping a few bits of egg off of his face. "I'm going to take a shower, and I swear, if there is another prank waiting for me there, you'll regret it."

・・・•・・・•

It was now midday, and all the campers were lined up on the beach, awaiting for Chris to begin talking to them about what awaited them. "Today's challenge will test your minds, your teamwork, and your skills in the kitchen!" Geoff and Trent sent each other hateful glares at the simple thought of working together. "You will be cooking a three course meal and serving it to me, for tasting."

Noah raised a hand, although he didn't wait before talking. "Hate to interrupt, but don't you have Chef for that?" He sneered, one eyebrow raised quizzically.

Chris scoffed in reply. "You seriously think I let that guy cook me food? No way, man. My actual chef just quit like a week ago and I just ran out of leftovers, so until I get a new one, you guys are my substitutes. Anyways, the winners of this challenge will get a reward, whilst the losers send somebody home.

"Each team will appoint a head chef to create the theme of the meal and oversee the cooking. To cook, you need ingredients." The host let out a chuckle, and the water closest to the campers began to bubble. There was a beeping noise, and then, out of the water came a food truck, being driven by a dolphin in a spiffy new uniform. "Every morning a truck brings us food. Today's task starts there."

Geoff, since he was the nearest, opened up the back of the truck, revealing an incredible display of different fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats, and practically any food you could think of. "We could totally do a killer Italian theme with this!" He said, climbing into the truck and stepping carefully around the food.

"Yeah, that's great and all, but we're going to need a head chef." Lindsay said, flipping her blonde hair behind her shoulder. She put out a hand and Heather untied one of her pigtails, giving the hairband to Lindsay so she could tie up her own hair. "I nominate myself."

"But Geoff came up with the theme," Gwen stated, snarling at the blonde, "don't you think he should be head chef?"

"If I did I wouldn't have nominated myself for the position, would I?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Geoff snapped, popping his head out of the truck. "I don't really appreciate what you may be implying, dudette."

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Fine then, we'll have a vote. All in favour of me as head chef, raise your hands." Lindsay, Heather, and Trent all put their hands in the air, and finally, Cody, although he seemed much less certain than the others were. "Why, it looks like I win!" The blonde faked an innocent giggle, before stepping into the truck, forcing Geoff to get out. "We'll be doing French, now come on!"

Duncan had snuck to the back of the truck, and discovered a large variety of cooking appliances, including one that was particularly familiar to him. "No way!" He chuckled as he pulled away the half of the cloth covering the old-fashioned barbecue. The teen dragged the barbecue out of the truck, ignoring Lindsay's complaints about how he bumped into her. "My παππού had something just like this. He used it to cook σουβλάκι at family gatherings."

DJ looked down at the barbecue, then up to Duncan. "Do you know how to work this thing?" He asked as Timmy fiddled with the metal bars resting above the coals.

"'Course I do. What kind of grandson would I be if I didn't learn the family recipe?" Duncan went back into the van and began picking out ingredients. "We could totally do a killer Greek theme with all of this!"

Beth picked up Timmy so he wouldn't injure himself, holding out one arm so he could use it as a swing instead to entertain himself. "I guess we've found our head chef then." There was a small smile on her face, and, thankfully for the plan already formulating in her mind, nobody opposed the idea.

"Well then, let's get grabbing!" Duncan said, a huge grin on his face as he disappeared back inside the truck. He and Lindsay grabbed the ingredients they wanted, passing them around with their teammates, before stepping out of the truck and heading towards the kitchen.

・・・•・・・•

"Alright, since we only have five people on our team, I'll be doing the main course by myself." Duncan said, setting all the ingredients out into three different groups; one for the entree, one for the main course, and one for dessert. "DJ and Tyler, you'll be on entree. Beth and LeShawna, you'll be on dessert."

Beth looked at the ingredients that lay before her. "Uh… Duncan, what exactly are we making?" The punk glanced over and sighed.

"Right, you, uh, don't know. Of course. Do you want me to write a recipe or something?" He seemed jittery, almost like the mere thought of cooking a family recipe on national television was making him overwhelmingly excited.

Chris walked into their kitchen just in time to hear Duncan's idea. "Well if you're going to make a recipe, you're going to have to make it snappy. You guys only have three hours on the clock!"

Duncan bit his lip, looking from the ingredients, to Beth and LeShawna, then back again. "So we don't have that much time. That's okay, that's fine! You guys can just wing it."

LeShawna's brows furrowed, as she gave the head chef an incredulous look. "That doesn't really sound like a great idea…"

"Yeah, well, it'll have to do. If either of you have ever made doughnuts, λουκομάδες are basically just like that." The punk ran a hand through his mohawk, clearly already stressed out as he washed his hands once again before he began cutting up his chicken and lamb into little cubes.

The Gophers were doing better, although, admittedly, they didn't have much competition. Since they had seven members still on their team, they were able to evenly split everyone up and leave Lindsay to order everyone around, which managed to be both beneficial and harmful to the team.

"Cody, Heather, you'll be making Niçoise Salad, Noah and Gwen will be on Ratatouille, and Geoff and Trent will be making Crème Brûlée. Any questions or complaints?" Before either Geoff or Trent could speak, Lindsay continued. "No? Good! Now get to work!"

**Confessionals Start**

"Geoff and Trent are hopeless, honestly," Lindsay examined her pointy red nails, "but if I'm going to keep LeShawna in the game, then I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands. If that means costing my team the win, then so be it."

"I can see what Lindsay's doing," Beth sneered, her arms crossed as Timmy played with her hair, "Pairing Geoff and Trent up together… who does she think she's fooling? I'm pretty sure everyone in Canada could hear Trent yelling at Geoff to give him back his binder last week. She isn't even trying to hide it!"

**Confessionals End**

As soon as everyone had gotten to work, Lindsay walked over to Cody and Heather. The two of them were working surprisingly well, cutting up the vegetables into even slices. The blonde cleared her throat, earning their attention. "I know you two have just started working on the entree, but would it be okay if I could talk with you, Heather?"

Heather smiled as she continued to cut the vegetables. "Of course, Linds-"

"Alone." Lindsay hissed, causing the shorter girl to shrink back a little. She exchanged an apologetic glance at Cody, before walking outside with Lindsay.

As soon as the two girls were outside, Lindsay shoved a finger at Heather's chest, shoving her back a little and causing her to let out a little whimper. "W-what is it, Lindsay?" The smaller girl asked, pursing her lips together in an attempt to stop herself from making any more noise.

"The Bass are getting too smart for their own good," Lindsay stated, resting one hand on her hip, "they know LeShawna has been working with us."

"But… she isn't in the alliance…" Heather said, confused.

"No shit, Sherlock," Lindsay rolled her eyes, "but she doesn't need to be. Anyways, the Bass are going to vote her off the next chance they get, and we can't let that happen."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Work on the anchovies for the salad, but don't debone them properly. It shouldn't be too hard to do, they're tiny anyways. Just make it look like an accident." Heather nodded, and the two girls went back inside.

Although the two of them were completely unaware, Beth had been listening through one of the windows in the kitchen, having left it open just a crack when she saw them heading outside. When LeShawna excused herself to go back to the cabins to fetch something, Beth gathered the Killer Bass together.

"This better be good, Velma, because in case you haven't noticed, we're all a little busy." Duncan snarled, walking into the group huddle.

"Trust me, it is," Beth looked out the window to make sure LeShawna wasn't anywhere close by, before continuing, "Lindsay plans on throwing the challenge so that we can't vote of LeShawna."

"Yeah, well, I don't really care as long as-"

"Which means Trent would be going home." Instantly Duncan's expression changed at the thought of his last proper friend on the island leaving. His back straightened and the look in his eyes became harder, more determined.

"So what? We throw the challenge harder?" The delinquent asked.

"We could try," DJ pursed his lips and looked over the kitchen bench their small group was working on, "but it would be pretty difficult. Some of the dishes they're cooking are really dainty, and one incorrect step could send their whole group to elimination."

"Then we just mess up our dishes even more."

"I don't know, dude," Tyler poked at a tomato, causing it to roll off the table and onto the floor, "I mean, some of these things are kinda hard to stuff up. Like, Greek salad? I don't think even _I _can mess that up."

Duncan stole a glance at the Gophers. Trent, the poor guy, was entirely oblivious to the whole situation. Biting his lip, he turned back to the group, before letting out a heavy sigh. "Alright then, I've got an idea. But you'll need to run back to the food truck. We're making γεμιστός."

・・・•・・・•

Noah kept stealing glances over at Cody and Heather, looking back down at the meal he and Gwen were preparing before anyone could notice. Anyone who wasn't Gwen, that is. "Is there something wrong, Noah?" She asked, drawing his attention.

"What? No, of course not." He rolled his eyes, before continuing to chop up the vegetables. "Why would you ask?"

"You keep looking over at Cody and Heather," Gwen gestured over to the pair in question, "it's kind of obvious. Are you thinking that Lindsay's using Heather too?"

That was most certainly not what Noah was thinking, but he decided to go with that. It would be easier talking about that than his crush on a certain brunette. "Yeah… I can't tell why, but there's something off about how they treat each other."

"I wasn't going to tell anyone since I thought it may have been a one-off thing, but you remember Boney Island?" Noah nodded his head. "Yeah, well, after I gathered enough wood or whatever, I saw Lindsay yelling at Heather, and she scratched her across the chest hard enough to leave marks."

Noah's eyes widened in shock, before looking around to see if anyone else had heard. "We need to do something then." He said, continuing to work on their dish.

"Obviously, but I haven't figured out how yet." Gwen replied. "I'm guessing you're with me then?" Noah glanced up at the girl, smirking as he gave her a nod.

Geoff and Trent, however, were not having as good of a time in the slightest. They had been non-stop arguing since they started, and had barely gotten anywhere. "Look, I understand you hate me, because I hate you too! But there is a _line _that you cannot cross!"

"I don't see why stealing your weird short singlet is all that bad!" Geoff argued, almost knocking the bowl containing the yet-to-be-mixed custard ingredients off the bench.

"It is not just some singlet, it is my binder, and I need it! Very much!" Trent yelled. "Let's put it this way; how would you feel if I stole your favourite cowboy hat?"

Geoff put a hand to his head, almost in a defensive manner, as he checked to make sure his hat was still there. "I'd feel pretty bad, dude, but I don't see what that has to do with-"

"Okay, great! Now imagine that, but about one hundred thousand times worse. In fact, I felt so bad that if it weren't for the pure rage I was experiencing, I wouldn't have wanted to go outside at all." Geoff grimaced as he thought about it a little more.

"Then I just don't do that, right?" Trent nodded his head, grabbing the mixing bowl, from Geoff's hands so he could stir the ingredients together. "Everything else is off limits?"

"Everything except my pills." Trent raised the spoon in a threatening manner, almost daring Geoff to say he'd already planned something with them so he could whack him with the cooking utensil. Instead, the blonde just nodded in agreement.

**Confessionals Start**

"Look, I know I hate Trent," Geoff was holding his hat close to his chest and glancing around nervously, checking to make sure that there wasn't anything wrong with the confessional booth, "but he's right. I'm a good dude, unlike _him _, so I gotta respect his boundaries."

"Geoff and I managed to lay down a few ground rules; he can't take my binders or my pills, and I can't take his hat or his party photo album," Trent shrugged, "I _was _going to fill his hat with some of Chef's 'food', but I'm okay with sacrificing that plan to keep my pills safe."

**Confessionals End**

Heather flicked a few of the bones in the fish out with her knife, being as messy as she could. A few of them hit Cody, but he didn't seem to be paying too much attention, unlike Lindsay, who was watching her like a hawk. The poor girl could feel her eyes staring into her back as she tossed the tiny fish carelessly into the salad bowl.

As soon as she'd gotten through the final fish, that feeling left. The guilt still remained though, eating away at her. She wouldn't give her precious Cupcake such terribly prepared food, why was Chris any different? People complained about both of them all the time, but they'd never done anything bad to her!

Maybe comparing Chris to a rescue pitbull wasn't a good thing.

Heather looked around to make sure Lindsay was most definitely not looking, before reaching back into the bowl and grabbing as many anchovies as she could. She began to take the bones out, properly this time, and the weight on her shoulders began to be lifted.

Meanwhile, the Bass were having a lot more difficulty, and understandably so. Since Beth and LeShawna now had to wait an hour and a half for their dough to rise, they didn't have much to do aside from watch Tyler and DJ try (and fail) to figure out what they were meant to do with a bunch of vegetables and rice.

"If it's not a stir fry, then what is it?" Tyler whined, cutting off the tops of the capsicums as carefully as he could. "I don't get what you're asking us to make, dude."

"It's not that hard to understand!" Duncan huffed, finally walking away from his course so he could help out the other two. "Look, you've just gotta mix all this stuff together, and-" He resisted the urge to cringe as he intentionally mixed the wrong ingredients together. Γεμιστός was already an acquired taste, but it was going to take a lot of acquiring for anyone to like what he was making.

"There. Done." Duncan stood back from the rice mixture with a displeased look on his face, one he was trying his best to hide. It wasn't working too well, though. It looked fine enough, but there was an overwhelming smell about it that caused DJ and Tyler's noses to wrinkle up in disgust.

"You think this'll be enough?" DJ asked, grabbing a metal spoon and shovelling the rice into the open capsicums.

"Of course. There's no way Chris will be able to give this rancid shit more than, oh, I'd say about a two." The delinquent walked back over to his part of the bench, more than happy to distance himself from the entree. "You may want some nose plugs for when those go in the oven." DJ and Tyler exchanged nervous glances, before continuing to stuff the capsicums with their filling.

・・・•・・・•

Beth and LeShawna (although it was mostly Beth) we're scooping up small balls of dough to put into the frying oil, since it seemed like it had risen enough. Small drops of oil had managed to jump out of the pot they were frying in and down the sides, something both of the girls had failed to notice.

"Hey, LeShawna?" Beth asked, looking at the uncooked balls of dough sticking to the bottom of the pot, "They aren't cooking, do you think we did something wrong?"

LeShawna got up from her seat on another bench nearby. She looked at the stovetop and huffed in annoyance. "It's not on, you idiot." The girl growled, before putting on the gas and setting it on fire.

Instantly, the flames travelled up the side of the pot and into the oil, causing a huge fire to blow up in LeShawna's face. Just as quickly as it had gone on fire, Beth managed to get rid of it by putting the lid of the pot back on top. The damage was done, however.

Beth tried to hide a snicker of amusement as she looked at LeShawna, covering her mouth with her hands and fogging up her glasses in the process. "What's so funny?" LeShawna asked. Beth reached around for something reflective enough for her to see her face on, before finally handing her a greased up pan that Duncan had set aside for later.

It took around two second for LeShawna to notice the lack of a very important feature of her face.

Her eyebrows.

She let out a scream so loud it rattled the windows of the kitchen, and some campers had to cover their ears for fear of going deaf. "Tyler!" LeShawna barked, a fire blazing behind her dark brown eyes. "Get me my makeup bag!"

"But-" Tyler began, looking less then pleased at his newly designated task of errand boy.

"No buts! Just do it!" Tyler ran out of the kitchen before LeShawna could yell at him again, heading straight for the Bass cabin. Not wanting to leave his teammate waiting, the jock ran in and slammed the door behind him. There was a thump outside, which he chose to ignore so he could look around instead.

The jock rummaged through the LeShawna's luggage until he found what he was looking for. He let out a sigh of relief, shoving everything else back in before walking out the door, looking triumphantly at the makeup bag in his hands. "That wasn't so bad." He said with a smile. Then something got stuck on Tyler's foot.

Confused, Tyler looked down, and his smile turned into a grimace of fear as he realised he had lodged a hornet nest onto his foot, and that there were now at least two dozen angry hornets getting ready to sting him. He screamed in fear as he began running as best as he could, the nest still stuck on his foot, trying to get away.

Tyler ran all across the open area, through the woods, and to the Dock of Shame, before getting an idea. He shoved the makeup bag into the pocket on his shirt, took a deep breath, and dove off the end of the dock. The hornet nest finally came off his foot and sunk to the bottom, whilst the hornets that had followed him flew off.

Finally able to head back to the kitchen, Tyler got back to shore and shook himself dry, already walking back the way he had come. He took the makeup bag out of his shirt pocket and cringed at how wet it felt, hoping LeShawna wouldn't mind as he tried his best to ignore the itchy feeling of his hornet stings.

Tapping her foot impatiently, LeShawna held out her hand. "Give me the bag." She said, wanting to apply some new eyebrows on as soon as she could.

Tyler reached out to hand over the makeup bag, but Beth snatched it from him at the last second. "Hey!" LeShawna yelled as Beth tossed it over to Duncan, who was more than happy to participate in the game. "Give it back!"

"How about no?" Duncan smirked, tossing it over to DJ. LeShawna ran over to try and take the bag from him, so DJ rushed to the freezer and tossed the makeup bag in, LeShawna following in quickly after it.

"Oh, thank god." LeShawna said, picking it up and unzipping it quickly to check that everything was inside. Just as she turned around to leave, DJ closed the door and locked it, leaving her trapped inside. "Hey! You can't do this to me!"

Tyler finally stumbled over to the others by the freezer door, scratching his hornet stings in a half-hearted attempt to make the itch go away. "Do you think she's mad?"

"I will murder you!" LeShawna screamed from the other side of the door, hitting it so hard that small dents began to form in the metal.

Beth just shrugged and walked back over to the λουκομάδες she had been working on. "Better to have her let out all that anger now then later tonight after we vote her off." The girl let out a laugh as she began scooping more of the dough into the oil, making sure there weren't any drips on the side this time.

Tyler looked on nervously as DJ and Duncan returned to their stations, chatting away happily as Duncan finally got around to cooking the chicken for his σουβλάκι. How was he going to tell Lindsay he couldn't save LeShawna from elimination?

At that moment, however, Lindsay's mind was far away from that issue. The blonde was far more worried about the fact that Geoff and Trent were not fighting as much as she wanted them to.

Normally, she wouldn't dare dream of getting her hands dirty for anything ever, but right now was different. It was going to be very difficult to have even a slight chance of losing the challenge if the two people who were meant to be fighting and ruining everything for everyone else were having a good time.

So that is probably why Lindsay had grabbed a spatula and, whilst neither of the boys had been looking, scooped a bunch of custard out of the bowl and flung it straight at Geoff's hat. The goopy mixture dripped down his back and the taller of the two partners turned around, slowly, giving Lindsay enough time to run away.

Not wanting to send both of them back to square one with their dessert, Geoff decided to, instead of dump Trent's head into the bowl of custard, throw a handful of Cody and Heather's leftover anchovies at him when he turned around. So that is exactly what he did.

To Geoff, the look on Trent's face was priceless. But then Trent threw them right back at him, laughing with a cheeky look in his eyes. Cody, who had been watching intently ever since the first fish had been thrown, yelled out "Food fight!" As Geoff and Trent continued to fight, causing the majority of the Gophers to join in.

If Lindsay had known she was going to get food in her hair and stuck in her shoes, maybe she wouldn't have thrown that custard. But hey, there was no way her team could lose now, right?

・・・•・・・•

Duncan looked over his plate of σουβλάκι, a tear of pride threatening to spill from one eye. "Παππού would be so proud…" He sniffed, causing DJ to pat his back comfortingly.

"Of course he would, man." The taller teen said. He scrunched up his nose in disgust as a foul smell passed by. "Is that-"

"The γεμιστός? Yeah I'd say they're done now." Duncan chuckled to himself as DJ let out a heavy sigh and headed over to the oven to grab out the foul-smelling dish. Beth was scooping out the final of the λουκομάδες out of the pot she was frying them in, just as burnt as all the others she had cooked.

Tyler was in dining room with Lindsay, finalising touches to the decorations in preparation for the meals to be served. "Would one of you two go in and tell everyone their time is up? I'm starving!" Chris said, a hungry smile on his face as he laid a napkin out over his lap. "And make sure the Gophers bring out their meals first."

"Will do, sir!" Tyler said happily. Over the past half hour his stings had gone down a considerable amount thanks to some mysterious paste Chef had applied to them, and he didn't really have it in him to ask what it was made of. It certainly worked, though.

Tyler walked into the kitchen, stepping over food scraps as he made his way to the centre so everyone would be able to hear him. "Everyone, time is up! Chris wants the Gophers to bring out their stuff first, so good luck!"

The first people up were Cody and Heather. Together, they brought out their entree, both of them nervous, albeit for different reasons. One one hand, Cody was worrying over whether Chris even _liked _anchovies, or that they had put on too much salad dressing. On the other hand, Heather was hoping she had gotten rid of all the bones.

Suffice to say, when Chris took one bite, then another, and then a couple more, both of them were relieved. "This is a pretty good dish, you two. A solid eight out of ten." Chris said with a smile, causing the two contestants to jump around in joy.

Lindsay was less happy, however. She was still in the room, after all, and was fairly certain that Chris was meant to be yelling at them for forgetting to debone the anchovies. However, she kept her mouth shut as Gwen and Noah walked in with their dish, deciding to interrogate Heather about it later.

"This is pretty good too. You two get an eight out of ten as well." Gwen and Noah high-fived before walking back into the kitchen. Chris waited at the table for his dessert for a few minutes, before his impatience finally got to him. "Where are Geoff and Trent?" He asked.

"Sorry, sorry, we're here!" Trent said, carrying out a tray of malformed, white, custardy slop. He placed it in front of Chris and breathed a sigh that was clearly filled with regret.

"Where's Geoff?" Chris asked, prodding his meal with his fork. If he had wanted Chef's food he would have just gotten him to make it.

"Washing his hat. He's not in a great mood right now, and I wouldn't recommend trying to get him to come out of the kitchen." Chris scooped some of the custard onto his fork and shovelled it into his mouth.

There was a neutral expression on Chris' face for a second, and Trent almost thought he was in the clear, but then the host opened his mouth and let the custard roll off of it and back onto his plate, a grimace forming on his face. "That was disgusting! What- you know what, nevermind. I know what happened, I can see the food all over you. Two out of ten, purely out of pity."

Trent walked back into the kitchen, his head hung in shame. Geoff flung some water at him out of pettiness whilst DJ made his way out the door, a clothespin on his nose. As soon as he entered the dining room, Chris scrunched up his face.

"What's that smell?" The host asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"The food." DJ sighed, resting the plate in front of Chris. "Hope you enjoy." The large teen backed out of the room as Chris took in a mouthful of the entree, not wanting to see his reaction.

As soon as DJ reentered the kitchen, Chris let out a loud scream and began yelling for water, causing Tyler to run into the kitchen to grab a cup, fill it up, and run back out, spilling at least half of it on the way.

"What did you put in those things?" DJ asked Duncan, one eyebrow raised.

"If I told you I wouldn't be able to use it on anyone else, now would I?" Duncan smirked, picking up his tray of σουβλάκι and heading back outside to see Chris fanning his tongue. Upon seeing the host bright red in the face and struggling to cool down, Duncan began to back out of the room just like DJ had before. "Do you, uh-"

"No, please, just anything that isn't spicy oh my _god _." As soon as Duncan was close enough, Chris practically ripped the plate from his hands, shoving one of the sticks into his mouth. The expression on his face soon changed from panicked to relaxed as a small, genuine smile, free of malice, found its way onto the hosts face.

Chris looked over to Lindsay, who was trying to shake food out of her hair. "Lindsay, go get Chef, will you?" He asked. The girl didn't question it, instead she ran out to find the bulky man.

After a few minutes, Duncan looked over to Chris once again to see him savouring every bite of his meal as if it would be his last one on earth. "Chris, what are you-"

There was some yelling coming from outside the dining hall, and Chris quickly told Duncan to shush. Chef came in soon after, Lindsay trying her best to drag him in even though he was walking in almost entirely out of his own free will. "What is it, Chris?"

"Chef, I know I don't say this enough," Chris began, getting up from his seat and walking over to the taller man, a single tear threatening to fall from his one of his eyes, "but the pure amount of love and heart poured into the food I just ate made me come to a realisation."

Tyler leaned into Duncan and whispered, "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Absolutely none whatsoever."

Chris stopped right in front of Chef and held one of his hands in his own. "I love you, Chef. And I know I may not be the greatest at showing it, but I truly do appreciate everything you do for me and this camp."

A smile managed to crack through Chef's hard, stoic exterior for just a second, a small twinkling in his eyes as his frown morphed from negative to positive. "I love you too Chris. But I gotta get back to work."

Chris cleared his throat and shook his head, as if breaking out of a trance, and let go of Chef's hand. "Yes, of course. You've got more important things to do. I'll see you later." Chris headed back to the table and took a seat, a dumb smile on his face as Chef left.

After a few minutes of semi-awkward silence, Duncan spoke. "So… did you like it?"

"Like it?" Chris scoffed. "That dish made me feel more emotion than I have in years. That was an easy ten out of ten, dude!" The host laughed to himself as Duncan walked back into the kitchen, ushering Beth out with the dessert.

**Confessionals Start**

"So… that was certainly something." Duncan scratched the back of his neck. "I kinda hope he doesn't take it too bad when he finds out about how burnt the dessert is."

**Confessionals End**

The meal Beth had prepared looked good enough. She had poured so much honey and sugar over the Greek doughnuts that the actual dessert couldn't be seen. Chris seemed more than happy to begin digging in, until he began to make choking noises as his face turned blue.

"Everyone, back away! I know what to do!" Tyler announced, running over to Chris and giving him a might whack on the back, sending a charred piece of doughnut flying from his mouth.

The four people in the room stared in shock as it hit the back wall, bouncing off of it and then rolling across the floor, coming to a stop at Chris' feet. "What did you do, exactly?" Chris asked, not doing a very good job at keeping the tone in his voice calm.

"I followed the recipe," Beth said, "I just didn't do a very good job at not burning the food."

"Yeah, well, I can see that. You almost killed me!" Chris let out a dramatic sigh like a teenager coming home from school being asked to do their homework. "You Bass are a mess! One spectacular dish and two shitty ones isn't going to help you win! And _where _is LeShawna?"

Beth perked up. "I knew we were forgetting something!" She said, before running into the kitchen and heading straight for the freezer. There was some yelling, before she came out with LeShawna. The teen girl had been in the freezer for so long her skin had begun to turn blue, and she was shaking from head to toe. The most hilarious difference, however, would be her wavy, uneven eyebrows drawn in with pencil.

Tyler tried to contain his laughter, as did Beth, whilst Lindsay and Chris remained unamused. "Perfect, now I can tell both of you how terribly you did! You guys had the potential to win, you know? The Gophers only got eighteen points. All you needed was five points, and you would have beaten them.

"But your dish was so terrible, so absolutely horrendous, that I am giving you negative points. That's right! Minus three points!" Chris let out a groan, running his hands over his face. "Just… bring out everyone else."

Tyler ran back into the kitchen and brought everyone back out so they could hear what Chris had to say. "The Gophers win. Again. And just when I thought you Bass might've had a chance." The host gestured at the smaller team. "I'll see you five tonight at the elimination ceremony, and, as promised, the Gophers will be having a reward tonight; a five star meal under the stars!"

The majority of the Gophers were ecstatic, cheering jumping and down out of glee. "Now I'm going back to my cabin to relax. Maybe get Chef to cook for me for once instead. At least he wouldn't try to kill me."

The host then walked out of the room, leaving a very furious LeShawna and Lindsay with their teams. Lindsay went into the kitchen and grabbed Heather, pulling her outside and shoving her up against the outside of the dining hall. Gwen and Noah, both suspicious of this, followed them as quietly as they could.

"What was that?!" Lindsay whisper-yelled, jamming a finger into Heather's chest, causing the shorter girl to whimper. "You were meant to throw the challenge! Not help us win it!"

Heather gulped, refusing to look her friend in the face as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "I-I'm sorry, Lindsay, I just thought-"

"Well, there you go! You're not the one who does the thinking in this alliance, Heather; I am. There's a reason for that, you know!" Lindsay pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose, as if just speaking to Heather was tiring. "If you were the one making up ideas, we wouldn't have eliminated any of the Bass members! Like, at all! You know what else?"

"What?" Heather dared to look up at Lindsay, only to turn away quickly upon seeing how angry and straight-up terrifying the other girl looked. In doing so, something caught her eye. Or rather, some_ one _.

"You'd be back at home, probably following around some other people like the dumb sheep that you are, unable to follow their orders properly because you are _useless _!" Lindsay lowered her voice a little, beginning to grow aware that if it rose any higher others might hear her. "Absolutely useless. So useless that you couldn't incorrectly debone fish properly!"

Finally, Lindsay backed away, flipping her hair behind her and walking off towards the cabin. "Now I've got to go get ready for the dinner tonight. Make sure you aren't a complete and total stuff up for the next task I assign you."

As soon as Lindsay was out of sight, Heather rushed over to Gwen and Noah. Her two teammates were too busy talking about how horrible Lindsay was and what to do with her to notice the small girl until she cleared her throat.

The two friends jumped and immediately turned to face Heather, guilty looks on their faces. "What were you two doing? Listening in on my conversation?" Gwen and Noah exchanged glances.

"Look, Heather, we're just… worried. Your friendship with Lindsay doesn't seem…" Gwen tried to find the write words, urging Noah to help her.

"Entirely healthy. You do so much for her, and all she does is treat you like dirt. Why don't you cut her off?" Noah asked. "Or, cut her off as best as you can, since we're all stuck on an island together or whatever."

Heather crossed her arms and a pout formed on her face. "I understand you guys care, but, like, it's totally fine. Lindsay's cool beans, she's just having a bad day. The other team don't really like LeShawna, so they'll vote her off, which Lindsay doesn't want since LeShawna's her friend, and so she's kinda mad. It's cool, I get it. Maybe you guys should just stay out of it."

Before Gwen or Noah could say anything, Heather turned towards the cabins and began to walk away. "Come on, we should all get ready for the dinner as well. Then we can just pretend this never happened!"

The two friends were reluctant to follow, but then the rest of the Gophers ran out of the dining hall with scared looks on their faces, followed by LeShawna's angered yelling, and decided it may be for the best.

・・・•・・・•

"I'm pretty sure you guys know this off by heart by now," Chris sighed, grabbing a marshmallow and squishing it between his fingers. "DJ, Tyler, Duncan, you're all safe."

The three boys were happy to catch their marshmallows and shove them into their mouths. They looked over to Beth and LeShawna, who were sending each other glares that, if looks could kill, would. "Beth, LeShawna. If I wanted to I could probably send you both to court for attempted murder, but the manager says I can't do that.

"As much as I wish both of you were going to home or, if luck was in my favour, juvie tonight, only one of you will be walking the Dock of Shame." Chris held up the final marshmallow of the evening up against the moon, as if using it's light to check it for any flaws.

"Beth, you're safe." Chris tossed the sugary treat over to the brunette, who was more than happy to taunt LeShawna about her victory.

"Are you kidding me?" LeShawna yelled. "After all I've done for this team, and you guys vote me off? I-"

"Oh, don't try and bullshit us, traitor. We've known about your lies for a while now." Beth snarled, the other three backing her up. "Sure, we may be down a few members compared to the other team, but that doesn't matter. As long as you're gone, we'll be able to have a chance again, especially since you won't be throwing challenges for _Lindsay _."

LeShawna opened her mouth to say something else, but two interns grabbed her by her arms and dragged her towards the docks, one of them putting a hand over her mouth so no one would be able to hear her yell insults towards her former team. After she was gone, Beth let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding.

"I'd say Operation: Avenge Harold is complete, guys." She laughed, pulling in her teammates for a victory hug.

・・・•・・・•

Noah checked himself in the mirror one final time, readjusting his glasses, his tie, trying to pat down any strands of hair that may have been sticking up. Everyone on the team was excited for the dinner tonight, and he felt a need to look his best. The cabin door creaked open, and he turned to see who was coming in.

"Hey, Noah." Cody looked oddly nervous. Not like the teen could help it, he was naturally awkward, everyone on the island knew it, but he seemed more nervous than usual. "I was, uh, wondering if I could ask you a question?"

"You just did." Noah pointed out, a smirk forming on his face. Cody looked at him with one eyebrow raised, clearly not in the mood. "Sure, what is it?"

"I've, uh, been meaning to ask ever since the end of the challenge, but…" Cody reached for his chest, where the pendant on his necklace would normally be resting, before remembering he'd put it away in an attempt to look more formal for the night. "Would you like to go to the dinner with me? I mean like… as, uh…"

"A date?"

"Yeah. Yeah, a date."

Noah smiled, the small gap in his teeth showing up as he did so. "Sure. I'd like that."


End file.
